Are We Ever Seeing "Now"?
In short: Light needs time to travel and the brain needs time to process what arrives, so everything we see, from a lamp across the room to a galaxy 2.5 million light-years away, is a view of the past.
A 1:57 short film in the series “Photon and Brain”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce, “NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix A: Definitions of the SI Base Units”; University of Virginia Physics Department (Michael Fowler, Galileo and Einstein lecture notes), “The Speed of Light”; arXiv (ar5iv rendering); author-formatted text of a paper in the European Journal of Physics by Falchi, Furgoni, Gattillo and Francesio, “INTRODUCTION”; PubMed Central (U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH); article originally published in Vision Research (2007) by Dingcai Cao, Andrew J Zele and Joel Pokorny, “Linking impulse response functions to reaction time: Rod and cone reaction time data and a computational model”; Journal of Vision (ARVO); authors David M. Eagleman (Baylor College of Medicine) and Terrence J. Sejnowski (The Salk Institute), 2007; PDF hosted by the Salk Institute Computational Neurobiology Labo…, “Motion Signals Bias Localization Judgements: A Unified Explanation for the Flash-Lag, Flash-Drag, Flash Jump and Frohlich Illusions”; PLOS Computational Biology (Public Library of Science); Khoei, Masson & Perrinet, 2017, “The Flash-Lag Effect as a Motion-Based Predictive Shift”; Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, “Looking into the Past with Telescopes”; Smithsonian magazine (Smithsonian Institution); article by Viviana Acquaviva, July 7, 2016, “If Telescopes Are Time Machines, the JWST Will Take Us the Furthest Back Yet”; NASA Glenn Research Center, “"Seeing" the Earth, Moon, and Sun to Scale”; NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), “Facts About Earth”; NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Space Science and Astrobiology at Ames, “Interesting Fact of the Month - NASA”; NASA Science (NASA/JPL-Caltech), “What is a light-year? - NASA Science”; NASA Science (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NASA Science Editorial Team, “Cosmic Distances - NASA Science”; NASA Science (NASA Hubble Mission Team, Goddard Space Flight Center), “NASA's Hubble Traces Hidden History of Andromeda Galaxy - NASA Science”.
Sources used in this film
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce — NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix A: Definitions of the SI Base Units · View →
- University of Virginia Physics Department (Michael Fowler, Galileo and Einstein lecture notes) — The Speed of Light · View →
- arXiv (ar5iv rendering); author-formatted text of a paper in the European Journal of Physics by Falchi, Furgoni, Gattillo and Francesio — INTRODUCTION · View →
- PubMed Central (U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH); article originally published in Vision Research (2007) by Dingcai Cao, Andrew J Zele and Joel Pokorny — Linking impulse response functions to reaction time: Rod and cone reaction time data and a computational model · View →
- Journal of Vision (ARVO); authors David M. Eagleman (Baylor College of Medicine) and Terrence J. Sejnowski (The Salk Institute), 2007; PDF hosted by the Salk Institute Computational Neurobiology Labo… — Motion Signals Bias Localization Judgements: A Unified Explanation for the Flash-Lag, Flash-Drag, Flash Jump and Frohlich Illusions · View →
- PLOS Computational Biology (Public Library of Science); Khoei, Masson & Perrinet, 2017 — The Flash-Lag Effect as a Motion-Based Predictive Shift · View →
- Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum — Looking into the Past with Telescopes · View →
- Smithsonian magazine (Smithsonian Institution); article by Viviana Acquaviva, July 7, 2016 — If Telescopes Are Time Machines, the JWST Will Take Us the Furthest Back Yet · View →
- NASA Glenn Research Center — "Seeing" the Earth, Moon, and Sun to Scale · View →
- NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) — Facts About Earth · View →
- NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Space Science and Astrobiology at Ames — Interesting Fact of the Month - NASA · View →
- NASA Science (NASA/JPL-Caltech) — What is a light-year? - NASA Science · View →
- NASA Science (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NASA Science Editorial Team — Cosmic Distances - NASA Science · View →
- NASA Science (NASA Hubble Mission Team, Goddard Space Flight Center) — NASA's Hubble Traces Hidden History of Andromeda Galaxy - NASA Science · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce: NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix A: Definitions of the SI Base Units
- Also: University of Virginia Physics Department (Michael Fowler, Galileo and Einstein lecture notes): The Speed of Light
- Also: arXiv (ar5iv rendering); author-formatted text of a paper in the European Journal of Physics by Falchi, Furgoni, Gattill: INTRODUCTION
- Also: PubMed Central (U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH); article originally published in Vision Research (2007) by Dingc: Linking impulse response functions to reaction time: Rod and cone reaction time data and a computational model
- Also: Journal of Vision (ARVO); authors David M. Eagleman (Baylor College of Medicine) and Terrence J. Sejnowski (The Salk Ins: Motion Signals Bias Localization Judgements: A Unified Explanation for the Flash-Lag, Flash-Drag, Flash Jump and Frohlich Illusions
- Also: PLOS Computational Biology (Public Library of Science); Khoei, Masson & Perrinet, 2017: The Flash-Lag Effect as a Motion-Based Predictive Shift
- Also: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum: Looking into the Past with Telescopes
- Also: Smithsonian magazine (Smithsonian Institution); article by Viviana Acquaviva, July 7, 2016: If Telescopes Are Time Machines, the JWST Will Take Us the Furthest Back Yet
- Also: NASA Glenn Research Center: "Seeing" the Earth, Moon, and Sun to Scale
- Also: NASA Science — Facts About Earth
- Also: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Space Science and Astrobiology at Ames: Interesting Fact of the Month - NASA
- Also: NASA Science: What is a light-year? - NASA Science
- Also: Cosmic Distances - NASA Science
- Also: NASA Science (NASA Hubble Mission Team, Goddard Space Flight Center): NASA's Hubble Traces Hidden History of Andromeda Galaxy - NASA Science
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