448K views · Dec 12, 2012 · 10:00 · 1 HN recommender · 3 mentions · discussed 2016–2018
Grace Hopper appears on Letterman and uses a foot-long piece of wire to show how far light travels in a nanosecond.
Why Hacker News points people here: Brought up whenever latency, light speed or the size of a nanosecond comes up, as the classic physical demonstration.
“this seminal scene between the great, late Grace Hopper and David Letterman”HN comment, 2017
“this seminal scene between the great, late Grace Hopper and David Letterman”
Grace Hopper shows Letterman the foot-per-nanosecond wire demonstration
No mention of the foot per nanosecond is complete without this seminal scene between the great, late Grace Hopper and David Letterman: this video
“Grace Hopper telling David Letterman what a nano second is!”
Grace Hopper explains a nanosecond as the distance light travels in a foot
Latency Math (Almost 100ms faster then current technology) EDIT: This is only one way ALSO Grace Hopper telling David Letterman what a nano second is! this video 1 Nanosecond = distance light travels one foot 1 mile = 5260 nanoseconds (In a vacuum) Current Satellite Internet = 22,000 miles or 115720000 Nano Seconds = 115.72 ms SpaceX Low Orbit = 715 to 823 Miles 823 miles = 4328980 nano seconds = 4.3 ms
“A lightnanosecond is about 30cm, or 1 foot.”
Grace Hopper illustrating that a light-nanosecond is about one foot
Lightnanoseconds are a useful measure in everyday life as well. A lightnanosecond is about 30cm, or 1 foot. this video
