Before I begin, I have looked through a few pages. I did not see this topic come up. Warpspeed is a theoretical method of travelling at Faster Than Light (FTL) speeds. It consists of an engine, somehow being able to 'bend' the space behind it, and push down the space in front of it, allowing the theoretical space craft to ride in a sort of wave. I find this to be a fascinating topic: I'd like to hear what you have to say about it. As for my opinion, I think it could be entirely possible, but would require major amounts of resources, and most certainly plenty of scientists to even figure out how to build the damn thing. Oh, and correct me if my little tid-bit of information is wrong, please.
I think it would be possible if we devoted tons of resources over the course of many, many years. And it would be cool as hell to go to Neptune during Summer Vacation.
Does this include the use of Non-FTL means to reach somewhere before light? (Wormholes, compressed dimensions (like halo's "Slipspace"), compressing space, etc) Does this include non-"warpspeed" theories of FTL travel? (Slingshotting (using two extremely dense points to fire an object, which would somehow have to have a lower weight then photons), the theory an object can "disconnect" itself from the universe, where the universe's laws no longer apply, etc) Also, compressing space is less simple then it sounds. After somehow bending space, adding another dimension, an object has to traverse a highly unstable wormhole. And there's no guarantee the other end isn't the core of a star. It's a bit like putting a small ant in a 2D maze made of a very strong plastic, then getting the ant to not only bend the maze but also to open a tunnel between the two sections which could close at any time, and for all the ant knows the other end could just be a pool of lava.
The idea has been cracked many times by multiple physicists. First a couple of facts/theories: -We have never found anything that can travel faster than light. This includes gravity. -The idea of riding on wave of "space" is quite possible indeed, but it would not surpass the Speed of Light. I do belive that we will be able to eventually travel at the speed of light, but not any faster. The only other way would be a wormhole, as draco stated.
Has anyone ever discovered an actual wormhole? If so, has anyone ever USED a wormhole? I'm curious, now...
Nothing can travel at or faster than the speed of light. That's basic level science. As for a warp drive, I am sure the drives we develop in the future will be much more powerful than anything we have now. Even if we could travel at 50% the speed of light, it would still take us several years just to get to the nearest stars. Worm holes are theoretical. It's a great idea, and I want it to come true more than anyone, but it's probably not going to happen.
^One of the reasons that prevent any object with a mass going at or faster than the speed of light is that the mass is not constant - it increases with velocity and it goes to infinity at the speed of light. So that eventually you need infinite amounts of energy to accelerate infinite mass past the speed of light mark. We really do not know what would happen to time when an object passes the speed of light. The only thing we have to rely on is the Special Theory of Relativity (Einstein 1905) and according to it time in a moving reference frame (say your space ship) goes slower as compared to a stationary frame (say Earth) the faster you go.
If you travel faster than light, won't everything be dark around you then? And isn't the fact you can't travel as fast as light a basic scientific fact.
True... I never though about that, lawl. I'd add more, but I need to look over all of your points in detail.
Yurrrrr all wrong. It is the theory of relativity which restricts the speed of light and dictates that it is a universal constant. It's advanced formulas explain how time, mass and energy change when approacing the speed of light, and come out with shocking answers. If an object is accellerated to the speed of light, the objects mass would become infinite. To move something with infinite mass, then you would need infinite energy, which is greater than all the energy available to us in the universe (which is also a constant). However the theory or relativity has been bashed and manipulated in it's time, so i'll have a go and give you some ideas. There are 3 major theoretical ways of surpassing the speed of light: - Passing into an alternate dimention where the constraints that limit speeds to that of the speed of light are either smaller, or non-existant. - Increasing the speed of space-time, which can achieve any speed. The speed that spacetime moves toward the singularity of a black hole past the event horizon is greater than the speed of light. That means the dimention in which you exist is moving inward at faster than you can theoretically ever achieve, explaining why you would never escape. - Manipulating various sub atomic particles and events to achieve superluminal (faster than speed of light) speeds. Quantum tunneling is an effect where particles have been known to move from one place to another instantenously, and some of the more popular string theories (related to LCH at Cern) theorise the existance of the Tachyon, which is a particle that always travels faster than the speed of light. It does not dispute the theory or relativity for a particle to constantly surpass the speed of light, just for a particle to increase up to that speed.
To my knowledge,it is impossible (as of now) to accelerate an object to the speed of light.As previously stated,the faster an object moves the more mass it acquires.Im sure in the far future,if humanity continues to exsist,we will probably solve this issue.However,it is theoretically possible to bend "Space Time" to create a wormhole,which would allow a spacecraft to travel to distance stars much faster.Even if we were capable of traveling at the speed of light,it probably wouldnt be as effective as a wormhole would be to travel to different solar systems for it would still takes years to get to the closest one anyway.
Einstein's theory has a lot of theories based around it, a lot of which have been proven correct. This states that Einstein's theory (general relativity I think) is correct. Therefore, an object can not travel faster than the speed of light. At the speed of light, yes. Faster, no. Because, as we know, the faster an object goes, the more mass it accumulates. The speed of light will result in almost infinite mass, requiring a heap of energy to produce. Faster, though, will require more than an infinite amount of energy to produce, and as we know, nothing lasts forever. Also, more than infinite is impossible. But, distorting space-time could get you to travel faster than light, but there could be nasty consequences. Something I just realised: if you travel faster than light, theoretically, you should be invisible, as no light particles would touch you.
Yes. It would be very cool in Neptune. Even in summer. Conventional FTL is impossibile, you can't accelerate past light speed. However I'm all up for alternative ideas, like wormholes or even mass effect drives from Mass Effect.
For an object with no mass, any speed is possible. The Speed of Light is possibly limited by mass, a not-so-common controversial discussion that protons have mass. (Mainly due to the fact gravity can bend light, and that light has a limit too it's speed, both of which should only apply to objects with mass) This would suggest Protons have PRACTICALLY no mass (too any measurable degree, it would be 0, however there are limits to how accurately we can measure), therefore, any object with no mass would be able to travel infinitely faster then light. (FTL) However, any object with no mass then a Proton would be infinitely unstable thereby making it impractical for such an object to travel FTL.
in my belief, ftl is impossible, however it may be possible to convert an object and or life forms inside into a special energy signature and move that through space at incredibly high velocity (possibly light speed) then once reaching the target destination the energy would revert to its natural state as matter. I also thought that since black holes have very strong gravity, it may be possble if you were to survive one that it is a wormhole or another galaxy or something like that.
Special relativity is a fickle topic. Don't succumb to the idea that an object of notable mass cannot travel at or beyond the speed of light. A photon has a mass, negligible, as it may be. The point of relativity directs towards the idea that accelerating an object of notable mass up to or beyond the speed of light is practicly impossible. 2 things just to think about; The LHC accelerates proton packets at 99.99% the speed of light, demanding 7 TeV, which in the grand scheme of things is not a huge amount of energy. Some have theorized (and attempted to prove) that light travels slightly slightly faster than the agreed speed of light in a hard vacuum, or under the influence of electromagnets.
I agree with everything but what I've put in red. Photons are massless, they have characteristic of a particle but are considered a wave. Generally the same could be said about neutrons in which a particle can act like a wave. Honestly though it's really an issue that won't be resolved until we understand more about the mechanics of combining Maxwell's equations with Newton's laws. This will provide a framework for describing light in relativistic terms. It's an easy misconception to think that because light travels at a constant speed, one can flip the definition between classical and quantum mechanical without difficulty. Yet, the only thing that can be cleared up by Maxwell is light obeys differential equations. This is the inherent difficulty - describing mass with a differential that incorporates relativity.
A warp drive is theoretically possible because space itself can move at any speed, so technically your not moving faster than light but the space around you is. Edit: Using a warp drive may have serious consequences and could even result in spaghettification of the ship and everything in it!