StarTalk Radio Cosmic Queries – Your God Is Too Small
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Feb 17, 2026 Listeners explore optics and how light behaves in weird situations. They debate cosmic mysteries like dark energy and whether we are alone. History and science collide with Giordano Bruno’s vision of many worlds. Quantum entanglement, black holes, and limits on communication get a lively breakdown. Speculation on which species might inherit Earth after humans adds a surprising twist.
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How Light Slows In Materials
- Light travels at c between molecules but interactions with matter (absorption/re-emission) make its average speed in a medium slower.
- The index of refraction quantifies that slowing and determines bending at boundaries.
Use Coatings To Kill Lens Reflections
- Use anti-reflective coatings (half-wavelength thick) to cancel reflections from lens surfaces.
- Designers phase-shift returning light so incoming and reflected waves destructively interfere.
Refraction, Sunsets, And Total Internal Reflection
- When light crosses between media, its path bends according to indices of refraction and can add minutes of daylight at sunset.
- At steep incidence angles total internal reflection prevents transmission into the second medium.
