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Four-star general's view on the FTL travel
Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2003 @ 00:00:02 UTC by vlad
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"I still believe in e=mc², but I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go," said Clark. "I happen to believe that mankind can do it..."
"I've argued with physicists about it, I've argued with best friends about it. I just have to believe it. It's my only faith-based initiative." Clark's comment prompted laughter and applause from the gathering...
While Clark's belief may stem from his knowledge of sophisticated military projects, there's no evidence to suggest that humans can exceed the speed of light, said Melnick. In fact, considerable evidence posits that FTL travel is impossible, he said...
Extracts from the article: "Clark Campaigns at Light Speed" from Wired News: Wired News article
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Re: Four-star general's view on the FTL travel (Score: 1)
by ElectroDynaCat on Thursday, October 02, 2003 @ 10:57:53 UTC
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Better to have a visionary in charge that thinks we CAN build starships, than a drone that only wants to drill for more oil. |
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Re: Four-star general's view on the FTL travel (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Thursday, October 02, 2003 @ 13:41:41 UTC | I recall reading somewhere that there is something known to travel faster than light but is always "skipped over" by science. That thing is gravity which has been estimated to be as little as 1000 to as much as 100000 times the speed of light.
For instance, one can calculate where a star will appear in the sky and have very accurate results by using the speed of light as a limit. However, the gravitational field produced by that same star is assume to affect other bodies instantaneously.
Allow me to explain. Let's pretend that during a short period of time, say 30 seconds or so, we happen to witness a star that zooms by our solar system. Let's say it doesn't cross the path of any planets and let's assume it is far enough not to kill us. Let us further state that this star is, say, 30 light-hours away.
When we look at that star, we know that it's position in the sky only reflects the position it was 30 hours ago. Now, in which direction will its gravitational field be pulling on you (assuming you can measure that)? The answer is not in the direction of the apparent location of that star, but the true location. In fact, in this thought experiment, we would feel the tidal effects 30 hours before we even saw the star.
That is, even though the light from the star has not made it to us yet, it's gravity is already exerting its force on us.
In essence, I could lift a sledgehammer above my head, and someone with advanced equipment located in a different planetary system would be able to instantly know that I have changed my center of gravity -- despite the fact the he/she won't be able to "see" me do so until the light reflected off of me reaches him/her.
Interesting, huh? Don't know how true it is but it does lend some hope that we can bend space faster than light can actually travel through the said space. This would theoretically permit FTL travel. |
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