--- title: "Scientists Say They Can Make Light Travel 30x Faster Than Normal" description: "Scientists at the University of Central Florida say they've made pulses of light travel 30 times as fast as usual and even backward in free space." date: "2019-04-04" modified: "2019-04-04" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-make-light-travel-faster" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "communication" - "Light" - "optics" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Say They Can Make Light Travel 30x Faster Than Normal ![Scientists at the University of Central Florida say they've figured out how to make pulses of light travel 30 times as fast as usual — or even backward.]() *\Image: Bruno Thethe/Osman Rana via Unsplash/Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Light Travel Scientists at the University of Central Florida say they've figured out how to make pulses of light travel 30 times as fast as usual — or even backward. "We're able to control the speed of the pulse by going into the pulse itself and reorganizing its energy such that its space and time degrees of freedom are mixed in with each other," researcher Ayman Abouraddy said in [a statement](). "We're very happy with these results, and we're very hopeful it's just the starting point of future research." ## Photon Shake Make no mistake: it's an extraordinary claim, and one the researchers behind it say could revolutionize optical communication. But Abouraddy and colleagues got the results [published in]() the prestigious and peer-reviewed journal *Nature Communications,* where they [described]() using a device called a "spatial light modulator" to trick pulses of light into traveling faster or slower than usual, or backwards. ## Live Fiber Back in 2006, researchers performed a [similar feat]() with light traveling through an optical fiber. Now, according to the researchers, they can pull off the same trick in open space. "This is the first clear demonstration of controlling the speed of a pulse light in free space," Abouraddy said in the statement. "And it opens up doors for many applications, an optical buffer being just one of them, but most importantly it's done in a simple way, that's repeatable and reliable." **READ MORE:** [Researchers develop way to control speed of light, send it backward]() \[*Phys.org*\] **More on light:** *[New NASA Animations Show How Slowly Light Travels Through Space]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()