H. A. Lorentz believed this to be the case, but in 1959 Roger Penrose and James Terrell demonstrated theoretically that, in a snapshot of a rapidly moving object, the shortening is not visible.

We simulated the situation in the laboratory. Using a picosecond laser and a high-speed camera, we were able to appear to reduce the speed of light to a few metres per second and experimentally confirm Penrose and Terrell’s prediction.

These experimental video recordings can be viewed here:

1) Lorentz-contracted spehere, opens an external URL in a new window at 0.999 times the speed of light.
2) Lorentz-contracted cube, opens an external URL in a new window at 0.8 times the speed of light.

Original publication

A snapshot of relativistic motion: visualizing the Terrell-Penrose effect, opens an external URL in a new window (at reposiTUm)
Communication physics 8 (2025) 161
(https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02003-6, opens an external URL in a new window)

In 1960, the physicist Robert Bussard proposed a ramjet propulsion system. A magnetic funnel is intended to focus interstellar hydrogen into a fusion engine. Since then, this idea has inspired not only science fiction authors; in 1969, physicist John Ford Fishback calculated the parameters for a working model, which was subsequently cited time and again in specialist articles. We have checked the calculations. The result: it works, but the funnel must be millions of kilometres long…

Original publication

The Fishback ramjet revisited
P. Schattschneider, A.A. Jackson
Acta Astronautica 191 (2022) 227-234
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576521005804, opens an external URL in a new window)