Limitations

I hear the distant cries. I see the disappointed faces. I know what I have done.

Yesterday, I neglected to create a post about my class. I wish the construction of the universe allowed limitless undertakings each day. Alas, it is not so. Some days a mortal must choose between his wishes and his responsibilities. I chose the latter, postponing response until today. 

In our world, limitations exist in a thousand forms in a thousand places. Even to those who understand the depths of physics, ultimate boundlessness is not granted. Physicists constantly struggle to maximize signal amplification and extend equipment capability while minimizing error. Each of these has its limit. 

Even our sight has a line of demarcation beyond which our instrumentation senses nothing. At a point known as the Hubble radius, there is a wall of microwaves traveling away from our planet at the speed of light (c). The Speed of Light! Newtonian Mechanics says this is the limit speed at which light can be observed. And still we can receive signals from this background radiation as it flies away. 

There is a greater surprise. Hubble's law says an object moving at the speed c now, moved faster yesterday. The math shows, that when the wave was emitted, this front was moving at twice the speed of light. Twice the Speed of Light! Still, the particle can reach us on earth; A limitation disproved!

Perhaps, it is up to us to question all limits we perceive to be true.