SLOW Light Speed! episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 22, 2025 · 43 MIN

SLOW Light Speed!

from What The If? · host Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

What the if the speed of light crawled along at walking speed instead of zipping around at 300,000 kilometers per second? Tracey McCallum from Ontario wondered about this scenario. Imagine reaching for your cat only to grab empty air because she's already somewhere else entirely. Baseball becomes a black-hole-creating death sport when pitchers throw faster than light speed. Concert audiences sing different verses simultaneously depending on their distance from the stage. Fiber optic internet becomes slower than carrier pigeons. Anyone wanting to outlive their annoying roommate just needs to jog around the apartment for a month to age slower than everyone else. The catch? They'll also get so massive that furniture starts flying toward them. Discover how messing with the universe's speed limit turns ordinary physics into extraordinary chaos. --- Find out more about Gaby's science fiction short story! Here are the links for the anthology. The physical copy can be ordered here : https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention The ebook can be ordered here: https://www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 22, 2025

What the if the speed of light crawled along at walking speed instead of zipping around at 300,000 kilometers per second? Tracey McCallum from Ontario wondered about this scenario. Imagine reaching for your cat only to grab empty air because she's already somewhere else entirely. Baseball becomes a black-hole-creating death sport when pitchers throw faster than light speed. Concert audiences sing different verses simultaneously depending on their distance from the stage. Fiber optic internet becomes slower than carrier pigeons. Anyone wanting to outlive their annoying roommate just needs to jog around the apartment for a month to age slower than everyone else. The catch? They'll also get so massive that furniture starts flying toward them. Discover how messing with the universe's speed limit turns ordinary physics into extraordinary chaos. --- Find out more about Gaby's science fiction short story! Here are the links for the anthology. The physical copy can be ordered here : https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention The ebook can be ordered here: https://www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention

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SLOW Light Speed!

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What the if the speed of light crawled along at walking speed instead of zipping around at 300,000 kilometers per second? Tracey McCallum from Ontario wondered about this scenario. Imagine reaching for your cat only to grab empty air because she's...

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