h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm wondering if it's possible that the speed of light could decelerate.
What would be the consequences/effects if it did?
Would we be aware of it?

I really like this entry, it is succinct (sp?) and funny, but I don't think the edited guide forum is the write place for it- perhaps you could try the alternative writing workshop? It really needs to be seen, but it isn't factual enough for the edited guide.

It's possible that things do travel faster than light...just that we can't see them.

More seriously though, if stuff were to exceed light speed and disappear beyond the boundaries of our 3/4 dimensional physics, then this could mean that they've spanned another dimension.

There are other discussions hereabouts regarding the properties of gravity, how the force is carried etc. Could all be linked to pan-dimensional-faster-than-light objects, elements, waves or whatever.

Just the musings of an interested observer with no real in depth knowledge of particle / quantum / astrophysics. Be gentle with me.

In response to the first question light should go be able to go slower as anything that emits light must have gravity will exert a pull slowing it down fractionally. An example of this is balckholes which pull light towards it andf if s balckhole emitted light (which they may do) then the light will just fall back into the blackhole in the same way if you threw a tennis ball into the air vertically there would be a point where it slowed down to a standstill before it fell back down. Light cannot go faster than the speed of light (theoretically) as some might presume it would when it went towards something of great mass e.g. a blackhole where if t was going slower than the speed of light then it would speed up but i imagine it would have similar effects of terminal velocity but with very different physics.