How did the search for a mysterious substance called ether reveal something new about light? In the 1800s scientists wondered if light rays were carried through space by mysterious ‘ether’, just as sound travels through the air. Two American scientists, Albert Michelson and Edward Morley, did an experiment in 1881 to detect ether, using a telescope and mirrors. They wanted to see if light rays were slowed down by the ether as the Earth moved through space. Their experiment found that there was no ether. It revealed an unexpected fact: the speed of light is always the same.
