Just like in Star Trek the movie, will we be able to travel faster than the speed of light one day? If we wanted to travel the universe and visit other planets then we would have to travel faster than the speed of light because we would not be able to make it in one's life span if we traveled that fast to the best of my understanding. We are going to need to find a planet one day to sustain human beings where our earth is already strained of it's natural resources and we will need to find another place to live. So my question remains, can one travel faster than the speed of light and if so then how long would it take to leave our universe and possibly find another planet? Albert Einstein's theory is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light but Albert Einstein was wrong on some things in his life and I wonder if one day we can travel that fast.
2007-03-28 04:46:49 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It is pretty much accepted by science that travelling faster than light is impossible. However, it may conceivably be possible to alter space in such a way as to make it possible to get from A to B faster than light. It appears to be mathematically possible to create a 'bubble' of space, in which your space-ship resides. The bubble can then be moved faster than light, taking its contents along with it. Of course, just because it's mathematically possible doesn't mean anyone has any idea how to do it.
Anyway, it is in fact quite possible to get from star to star in your lifetime, because as you approach light speed, time in the space-ship slows down dramatically, such that a journey of several years can seem to pass by much more quickly to the people on board. Google 'time dilation' for more details on that. Time dilation is not a theoretical effect, it is necessary to correct for it to make GPS navigation systems work.
2007-03-28 05:07:44 · answer #1 · answered by Ian I 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's just a movie! No one will ever go that fast. And even if we could, we will never reach the ends of the universe because even at the speed of light, it would take billions of years to go to the nearest galexy cluster. Albert Einsten was right about the speed of light. We are able to travel faster than the speed of sound. Isn't that enough? Star Trek is entertaining, yes, but it is not true. It's why it's called science FICTION.
2007-03-28 05:01:00 · answer #2 · answered by Jenna L 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A warp drive would be a mechanism for warping space-time in such a way that an object could move faster than light. Miguel Alcubierre made himself famous by working out a space-time geometry which describes such a warp drive. The warp in space-time makes it possible for an object to go FTL while remaining on a time-like curve. The main catch is the same one that may stop us making large wormholes. To make it you would need exotic matter with negative energy density. Even if such exotic matter can exist it is not clear how it could be deployed to make the warp drive work.
ref M. Alcubierre, Classical and Quantum Gravity, 11, L73-L77, (1994).
Tachyons are hypothetical particles which travel faster than light locally. They must have imaginary valued mass to be able to do so, but they have real valued energy and momentum. Sometimes people imagine that such FTL particles would be impossible to detect but there is no reason to think so. The shadows and spotlights suffice to show that there is no logic in the suggestion because they can go FTL and still be seen.
No tachyons have been definitely found and most physicists would doubt their existence. There was a claim that experiments to measure neutrino mass in Tritium beta decay indicated that they were tachyonic. It is very doubtful but not entirely ruled out. Tachyon theories have problems because, apart from the possibility of causality violations, they destabilise the vacuum. It may be possible to get round such difficulties but then we would not be able to use tachyons for the kind of FTL communication that we would like.
The truth is that most physicists consider tachyons to be a sign of pathological behaviour in field theories, and the interest in them among the wider public stems mostly from the fact that they are used so often in science fiction.
so it may be possible but noone has figured it out yet...
2007-03-28 05:16:57 · answer #3 · answered by scauma 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We will never travel faster than light,the reason is simple.
The speed of light is an incident,an incident takes time to happen.
Time is a quantum entity made up of pulses.
If time is split,say one second,you can only halve it so many times,eventually it will get so small that the next division will cause it to go out of existence.
When light travels through space,at any moment it is existing at a point in space for the smallest duration of time that can exist.
To increase it's speed would be trying to force it to exist for a length of time shorter than can exist.
2007-03-28 12:56:36 · answer #4 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A few years ago it was thought that no person ever could go to the moon and walk around on it. Look at how common place this seems now. Speed of light, who knows? Perhaps someday. But, even if we could go that fast, and faster, it wouldn't be practical. It is a law of physics not to be able to do this right now.:-(
2007-03-28 05:12:48 · answer #5 · answered by hillbilly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, not in the physical plane by sheer physical means. The speed of light marks the barrier and nothing can exceed that barrier in the physical universe...
Conversely, your question does pose an even more interesting aspect, and for which the answer would be in the affirmative: worm holes...
2007-03-31 17:37:47 · answer #6 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cmon...grow up.its jst a movie.
anyway..electrons or only subatomic prticles can travel at lights speed as they can overcome gravity n have negligible mass.so unless u can reduce urself 2 d size of an atom on get d energy necessay,i cant c how u can even reach dspeed of light.n anyway,if u r travelling at that speed, ur vehicle will have both partcle n wave nature.so even if u suceed in growing that small.ull b sick as a pig if u travel in dat.
2007-03-28 05:18:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
One word: wormhole... but Einstein also said that to put a tear in space was impossible but with string theory it may just be possible
2007-03-28 06:19:35 · answer #8 · answered by itsSCIENCE 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not unless we change the laws of physics and if they're different, we don't exist. Get out of the sci-fi and ito reality.
2007-03-28 05:22:16 · answer #9 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes was wrong..
Angels can travel faster..
no..we won't be able...God gives us only things we need ...not things that are for angels....and besides we should have a limit of speed to 50km..'cos people are diying...in cars...
2007-03-28 04:54:33 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋