patrick.net
An Antidote to Corporate Media
1,362,910 comments by 15,749 users - HeadSet, Maga_Chaos_Monkey, MolotovCocktail, Tenpoundbass online now
Scientist claims faster-than-light travel possible...
2014 Jun 12, 1:21am 2,982 views 15 comments
by zzyzzx follow (9)
Comments 1 - 15 of 15 Search these comments
zzyzzx
2014 Jun 12, 1:22am
According to Gizmodo, their engine could get to Alpha Centauri in two weeks as measured by clocks on Earth.
Article does not mention how much time would pass in a clock on the ship.
marcus
2014 Jun 12, 2:35am
When they said in two weeks, they mean earth time on the ship.
I don't believe that the well know paradox about relative time when traveling close to the speed of light (slowing time down) or faster than the speed of light (traveling back in time relative to what is experienced on earth), apply here.
Because with this theoretical technology the ship doesn't accelerate up to the speed of light, it moves the space in front of and behind the ship. That is, it warps the space time continuum.
Not that I truly understand, but...
I think that this basically jumps from one place in space time to another so that the time issues due to relativity are not there. Two weeks on the ship is two weeks here.
They've been talking about this for a while. The recent possible breakthrough is that the guy now says he has a way to do it, that doesn't require nearly the the same ridiculous amount of energy he previously thought.
I have my doubts, but it is amazing that this so closely follows what star trek did. Not that there aren't several other factors that make star ship travel seem implausible.
Heraclitusstudent
2014 Jun 12, 3:37am
Article does not mention how much time would pass in a clock on the ship.
Time would pass at the same rate as mission control.
Automan Empire
2014 Jun 12, 4:16am
Dr White admits his research is still small-scale and is light years away from
Wait, did the Dr, or the reporter, use light-year as a measure of time just there? Much like Han Solo using parsec as a unit of time; if a SCIENTIST wrote that, it would be a major blow to his credentials and credibility!
HydroCabron
2014 Jun 12, 4:30am
Wait, did the Dr, or the reporter, use light-year as a measure of time just there?
News flash: reporters are mostly facile morons.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/entertainment-weekly-utilizes-pun-in-article-about,19622/
NEW YORK—It is a mere two weeks after the release of the summer blockbuster Mission: Impossible, and Lori Skedelesky, an associate editor at Entertainment Weekly, can claim responsibility for one of the most clever turns of phrase in recent journalistic history: “Cruise Control.â€
Tenpoundbass
2014 Jun 12, 8:03am
On a side note, Christian scientist are working on a Heaven travel.
And is as much a reality of ever happening.
There either may or may not be a real "Space time fabric" it is a man made theoretical concept.
It would only require trillions of dollars of research to find out there is not Space time fabric, or prove Doc Emmet Brown's theory and erase us all from existence.
That being said, I'm sure a lot of new wonderful technologies would come out of it.
But do we really need a smaller more powerful hand held internet connected device?
I mean we're already 8 years into the iPhone technology and we're already sick of each other.
New Renter
2014 Jun 12, 8:06am
APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says
This is good news but what will happen if I need to open the window and blast some asshole aliens or folk music enthusiasts with a burst of Gatling gun fire.
Same thing that happens when the Aurora pilots feel the need to loose a few rounds at Mach15
HydroCabron
2014 Jun 12, 8:56am
APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says
will happen if I need to open the window and blast some asshole aliens or folk music enthusiasts with a burst of Gatling gun fire
Not clear that you could interact with them in any way, as you would be outside all known inertial reference frames.
However, you could convert them to energy to use as fuel.
Two problems with this scenario. It would take a lot of energy or mass to distort space time like this. Like the mass/ density of a neutron star or nearly the energy output of our sun. Also along the boundary between the bubble and normal space time there would be an event horizon, with possible lethal Hawking radiation for the ships crew. But it is a workable concept in relativity.
I think the concept of the possibility of faster-than light travel on a gravitational wave while accelerating in addition to riding that wave is not new. That somebody claims they can make that distortion happen is ;)
Ceffer
2014 Jun 12, 1:05pm
The faster than light travel has already been attempted, but you wind up with your head up your own asshole so the bugs haven't been worked out yet.
But then, there are people who like that sort of thing. Maybe a ride for an alternative theme park.
New Renter
2014 Jun 13, 8:52am
Something to keep in mind when you read articles like this. The mass enegy equivalent of a car, say 1000kg to be generous is in terms of energy 20 GIGATONS of TNT. That is 400x larger than the largest nuclear device ever detonated. We CAN make a bomb that big, it is not practical as a weapon but it can be done.
The problem is containing and harnassing that large a release of energy. If we could do that all the worlds energy problems would be solved.
The energy requirements still have to be reduced by several orders of magnitude to have any hope of success. I understand there is still a ways to go to refine the model. I wish the team doing so evey chance of success.
BTW this thread is a bit of a repost:
http://patrick.net/?p=1216575
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2655105/Engage-warp-drive-Nasa-reveals-latest-designs-Star-Trek-style-spacecraft-make-interstellar-travel-reality.html
Dr White said the spacecraft could reach Alpha Centauri in two weeks
Dr Harold White is famous for suggesting that faster than light (FTL) travel is possible.
Using something known as an Alcubierre drive, named after a Mexican theoretical physicist of the same name, Dr White said it is possible to ‘bend' space-time, and cover large distances almost instantly.
This, in essence, would allow a spaceship to travel almost anywhere in a tiny fraction of the time it would take a conventional spacecraft.
The ship in Nolan's Interstellar movie, as well as those in Star Trek, employ a warp engine.
The engine for Dr White's ISX Enterprise is based on something known as the Alcubierre drive. As shown in the illustration above this stretches space-time in a wave that causes the fabric of space-time ahead to contract while expanding the space behind, theoretically allowing 'faster than light' travel.
lthough the speed of light is seen as an absolute, Dr White was inspired by Miguel Alcubierre, who postulated a theory that allowed for faster than light travel but without contradicting Einstein.
Alcubierre's theory was published in 1994 and involved enormous amounts of energy being used to expand and contract space itself - thereby generating a 'warp bubble' in which a spacecraft would travel.
Allowing space and time to act as the propellant by pulling the craft through the bubble would be like stepping on an escalator.
Despite Dr Alcubierre stating his theory was simply conjecture, Dr White thinks he and his team are edging towards making the realm of warp speed attainable.
According to Gizmodo, their engine could get to Alpha Centauri in two weeks as measured by clocks on Earth.
The process of going to warp is also one that is smooth, rather than using a massive amount of acceleration in a short amount of time.
'When you turn the field on, everybody doesn't go slamming against the bulkhead, which would be a very short and sad trip,' Dr White said.
However, Dr White admits his research is still small-scale and is light years away from any type of engine that could be constructed into a spaceship like the USS Enterprise.
To make the dream a reality Dr White has laid out a road map with important milestones that will need to be met along the way to achieving true interstellar travel.
This begins with tests on Earth to prove the technology is possible.
These initial experiments are very crude and very basic - but, if proved, there is, in theory, no limit to how it can be applied.
The next step will be to use the warp technology on a spacecraft and complete a short trip to the moon, followed by a trip to Mars.
This would ultimately test the technologies that would be necessary to complete ‘jumps' beyond the solar system and reach destinations in a matter of months, weeks or even days.
The main limitation is energy - previously it was thought mass equivalent to a planet would be necessary to provide the energy required for a warp jump.
But revised suggestions suggest mass similar in size to a car might be more realistic.
The research has done enough to pique the interest of Nasa and other agencies.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), for instance, is currently carrying out the 100-year-starship project with a view to sending humans outside the solar system at the turn of the next century.