Tidbit of the Week

If nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, what if you had a spaceship traveling left at 99.99999% of the speed of light and had a second spaceship traveling right at 99.99999% of the speed of light? Relative to each other, wouldn't they be passing each other at 199.99998% of the speed of light?

A few years ago I didn't quite get this, but as I learn more about relativity, the clearer it becomes. In actuality, the spaceships would be passing each other at 99.99999999999999999% of the speed of light. Time actually changes to make sure that they never exceed the speed of light. The speed of light is the most constant thing in the universe, and even time conforms around it.

v = d/t

So if v is constant, time has to travel faster for the pilots of the spaceships than for an outside observer.