What are wormholes and what causes them?
2007-03-30 14:08:21 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Wormholes are a possible consequence of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Einstein came up with the remarkable idea that mass warps space, and the bigger the mass, the more space will be bent. This strange conjecture was proved by Arthur Eddington in 1919, when he journeyed to the island of Principe, off the coast of Africa, for the solar eclipse. There he proved that the Sun bent light from the stars as it passed in front of them. Theoretically, a wormhole could be formed when two or more massive bodies warp space and the fabric of space collides, forming a tunnel between distant places.
The easiest way to think about this is in two dimensions rather than three. Think of space as a piece of paper, which is bent over on itself. If a weight is put on top of the paper it will sag towards the centre. If there were another weight on the opposite side, then it would also sag towards the centre, if they eventually met then a wormhole would form, joining the two regions.
Although being sucked through the fabric of space does seem pretty menacing, wormholes would offer amazing possibilities to travel through space and time. Popping through a wormhole could bring distant galaxies to your doorstep. What's more, by doing this you are effectively travelling faster than the speed of light, and so by passing through a wormhole and back you could travel into the future.
No one knows whether wormholes exist let alone what would happen if you sent a spacecraft through them. If they do exist they could be very short-lived, and may not even survive long enough for a spacecraft to reach the other side. And if the spaceship did make it, its mass might cause the wormhole to snap shut, cutting the astronauts off for good.
2007-03-30 14:21:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Wormholes are theoretical rifts in spacetime (the fabric of the universe), normally caused by extreme gravity, of which can be found in a black hole. The idea of a wormhole is that it can send material from one point in the universe to another instantaniously. Mathematics say they are not only possible, but probable, but according to astrophysicists, they are impossible in nature, and even if they DID exist, they would be so unstable that even matter at a subatomic scale entering the event horizon of the wormhole would collapse it.
What causes them? I'm not sure, except they are commonly associated with black holes and singularities.
As for the possibility of them...I like to think they exist.
~WolfMage
2007-03-30 22:03:08 · answer #2 · answered by WolfMage 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The wormholes are tunnels to hyperspace. I don't know what causes them.
2007-03-31 08:32:14 · answer #3 · answered by Raven 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
wormholes are theoretical bridges between folded sections of the fabric of space-time
we have not discovered any yet, and their existence and/or possible causes are completely speculation
2007-03-30 21:17:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Worm holes are theoretical features implied by Einstein's relativity. No such object has ever been found. If they did exist they would act like shortcuts between locations in the universe.
2007-03-30 22:11:50 · answer #5 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are the shortcut Santee-Claus uses to get to all those houses in one night.
2007-03-30 22:20:44 · answer #6 · answered by Michael da Man 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
man you guys are smart
2014-08-19 12:36:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋