What is the memory capacity of a wireless device?

Is there a way to store and send information on a completely wireless system?

We're wondering....

How can a collection of atoms create thought (like in people)?

How do atoms move through time and space? For example, how do atoms in our bodies move to make us move?

If the universe is expanding and everything in the universe is getting further away from each other, are the individual atoms that make us moving further apart as well so that we'll eventually disconnect?

How do they keep the cloud cables dry if they're under the ocean?

Do atoms ever stop? 

Is there a point when you're splitting atoms so much that they're not considered atoms anymore? If so, what would they be? 

If there is nothingness beyond the universe, how could that be? How is nothingness possible? Could there be a place where there is nothing? And if there is nothing, how can we call that a place? 

What is the likelihood of another element being discovered? 

About the speed of light

The speed of light is very fast, as you know.  It slows down a bit when it (i.e. the photons it's made of) bump into atoms in our air.  Based on Einstein's work, we now think that the speed of light is the maximum speed that any object with or without mass can go.  

Do you understand mass?  You may know it as weight, but that is only on Earth. Mass exists everywhere! We use mass constantly to calculate important things to understand our world.  When we push on something, our Force equals mass times the acceleration of the thing (F=ma).  When something is moving, it has a certain momentum that keeps it moving based on its mass and velocity (momentum = mass x velocity).  So we use mass all the time. In gravity like here on Earth, mass is the same as weight.  Two objects with mass attract each other with gravity.  Our planet has a lot of mass so it attracts all of us and gives us weight. All of the things that we live with, like cars and airplanes, travel at far less than the speed of light because of their mass.

We don't understand why the speed of light is the fastest speed that anything can go.  We may learn that as we learn more about physics.  It has something to do with how our world is built, but we don't fully understand it yet.  If you learn as much as you can about physics, then maybe you can help us understand more about our world!

An answer!

If we strapped a bunch a photons to the outside of an atom, then could the whole thing go as fast as light or would the atom slow the photons down?

As you know,  photons are the "particles" of light.  But they are very strange particles - they are not like marbles or baseballs which are the particles we see every day.  They are both waves and particles.   As waves they are everywhere, as particles they are in one place.  This is part of a branch of physics that is hard for us to understand  but is real and true - it is called "quantum mechanics".

When a photon attaches to an atom it doesn't attach like a baseball.  It is absorbed by the atom and it increases the energy of the atom.  A photon has energy but no mass.  The atom has mass so it can never move at the speed of light.  The energy of the photon will make the atom move faster - but never at the speed of light.

The high energy atoms will send out light (photons).  That's what makes a light bulb work.  So photons come and go constantly but they aren't the kind of  particles that we know every day.

New wonderings

Is there such a thing as a natural white hole? (not created by man)
If something is pulled into a black hole, then does it come out of a while hole?
Is there a camera that can see things moving faster than the speed of light? If so, what are those things?
Is the speed at which your mind creates a new thought faster than the speed of light?

Hello Cape Elizabeth Students,

We are discussing some of your other questions among ourselves. They are really good! Here is the answer to one of your questions about space travel.

What is the furthest we have traveled in space with any form of technology?

In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, the ships to go the furthest into space. With Voyager 1, we have been able to travel ~20,030,799,000 KM into interstellar space. With Voyager 1, we have been able to travel 16,452,527,000KM in the Heliosheath. The Heliosheath is the outermost layer of the heliospere where particles from the sun get slowed down by the pressure of interstellar gases.

Source: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/where/index.html

-Jocelyn

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Voyager_1_entering_heliosheath_region.jpg

Here is a similar picture, so that you can understand the scale we are talking about.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Follow up question AND new questions

Follow up question: 

Can you post a picture of the current model of an atom?

New questions:

How can a collection of atoms create thought (like in people)?

How do atoms move through time and space? For example, how do atoms in our bodies move to make us move?

If the universe is expanding and everything in the universe is getting further away from each other, are the individual atoms that make us moving further apart as well so that we'll eventually disconnect?

If we strapped a bunch a photons to the outside of an atom, then could the whole thing go as fast as light or would the atom slow the photons down?

If you separate two halves of an atom, but leave the two pieces close together, will they rejoin on their own?

How do they keep the cloud cables dry if they're under the ocean?

Do atoms ever stop? 

Is there a point when you're splitting atoms so much that they're not considered atoms anymore? If so, what would they be? 

If there is nothingness beyond the universe, how could that be? How is nothingness possible? Could there be a place where there is nothing? And if there is nothing, how can we call that a place? 

What is the likelihood of another element being discovered?