Science trivia of the day

[andygates]

Get above the atmosphere, where you're exposed to cosmic particles.  Close your eyes.  Those blue flashes you see are Cherenkov radiation - the photonic equivalent of a sonic boom - caused by cosmic particles moving through the liquid in your eyeballs at a speed greater than the speed of light in your eyeball. 

Comments

[despaer.livejournal.com]

The particles won't exceed the speed of light in a vacuum ('cos nothing can) but they can exceed the speed of light in the medium through which they are travelling

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

Jah, sure, youbetcha, I knew that.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

And the speed of light in an eyeball is about .75c