OK - so if you are still with me...

We know that sound waves propagate at known velocities in different media, as in the speed of sound is different at different altitudes, in water vs metal, etc.

We know that sound, or light, bouncing off a reflector doesn't change speed, merely continues in the new direction at the same speed, even when bounced back in the opposite direction.

The limiting factor seems to be the balance between propagation/transmission speed - vs - how fast the stuff in the way can get OUT of the way....as in if it can't get out of the way fast enough, there is a sonic boom, etc.

We also know that light is propagated at a known speed...a constant, albeit there are limited circumstances that slow or speed up light as well.....but not the same things that speed up or slow down sound, etc.

We also know that light can be bent by gravity, or at least as it passes by massive bodies, its path is deflected proportional to the mass involved.

That means that light's speed is limited by the stuff in its way....but the stuff is not stuff that we seem to have identified, and, it appears to have mass, and be energy....at the same time.

It also seems that if we find out what it is that is limiting light's speed, we could accelerate light to higher speeds by creating a media w/o this interference.

I've been thinking about Momentum....

as in WHY is there a tendancy for an object in motion to stay in motion......obviously, they do, but, what is it about our universe that makes that happen?

Why does a wave propagate, a ball fly over the outfield fence when hit, etc.?

It appears to me that an object can be imbued with directed energy.....but, REALLY, what is making matter DO that?

Once the initial impact is made, and one object physically pushes another...WHY does it keep going long AFTER the initial contact......what's pushing it after that?

The easy answer is momentum, but, I am asking the most elemental question...why IS there momentum?

Is it related to wave propagation?

Is there something in the universe that acts to conduct matter along a path? Like when you light a light, and the light travels away at a known speed.....why that speed, what's the reason its not faster or slower?

The parts of the universe we don't know about, call it dark matter, or what ever...might be what acts in this fashion.

What do you think?