It is true that the basic laws of physics say that nothing that has any mass can travel faster then the speed of light, but energy does not have any mass. So if you were able to surround an object in an energy bubble and maintain that bubble of energy for a prolonged period of time could you then propel the object beyond the speed of light and if so why isn't NASA working on building such technology, or is this still the realm of science fiction
2007-07-26 05:16:31 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Even if you surround something in a`bubble` the object is still moving relative to everything else, you can not get to the speed of light(according to Einstein) you would always be a step away and your mass would get denser and denser... It is`nt possible and it never will be to travel the speeds required to reach the parts of space you are talking about...
Even at the speed of light we would be dead of old age long before we got anywhere interesting..... Space is just too big and we die tooooo young.
It aint apnin` so dont try.
2007-07-26 05:32:26 · answer #1 · answered by Infromthestorm 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To answer bluntly, we are no where close and won't be for a while. Rocket technology has not had any breakthrough since its conception. The furtheset spacecraft we have is the two voyagers spacecraft and they are barely on the edge of the solar system.
As to your suggestion, speed is measured relative to space. Surrounding an object with other stuff does not effects its relation to space. Furthermore, nothing can go faster than the speed of light (light is pure energy), period.
Now not all hope is lost though. Current physics statest that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light relative to space. StarTrek by passes this limitation by warping space itself. There is no limit to how fast you can move space. In fact, according to Inflation theory, during very early Universe there was a brief period of time where the Universe expanded faster than the speed of light. Another possibliy is that the current understading of physics is incorrect or incomplete. Who know before Relativity and Quantum Mechanic that our world is so weird? Maybe the combination fo these two theories would yield something entirely new that will enable us to travel the universe.
2007-07-26 12:56:22 · answer #2 · answered by zi_xin 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If a ship was inside an "energy bubble" then the propulsion would be coming from the ship. The ship would be propelling the energy bubble. and since the ship has mass, it would not reach the speed of light, and hence limit the energy bubble. Either way, I think it would be near impossible to get pure energy in any form to stay in one place without destroying the place.
2007-07-26 12:26:00 · answer #3 · answered by divvi_over_board 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a theory that if we condensed space and time in front of the craft, and expanded it behind the craft we would be able to travel faster than the speed of light. And since the space/time in the immediate vicinity of the space craft would be normal that there would be no time dilation. but then again I have no clue because this is just something I saw on the history channel... so who knows...
2007-07-26 13:04:50 · answer #4 · answered by c j 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's not a law of physics, it's a widely accepted theory of physics, but like many widely accepted scientific principals, it's a theory stuck in a game of horseshoes...
At our currently level of technology and current understanding of the universe around us, we accept that we cannot travel at FTL speeds simply because it fits close enough with everything else we know. Since we don't have the technology to accuratly prove or disprove this, and it for the most part works, it's a perceived law even though it's still mantains it's theory title. (sort of like evolution and the origin of speices... since we can't go back in time to chronical the lineage of organisims, evolution maintains it's theory status, but since it fits close enough with everything else we know, we accept it as law).
Now if you want fun with FTL, look up tachyeons (sp)... there's anouther theory which fits gaps we do not yet have full understanding of, but also contradicts that we can't go faster than the speed of light.
Now as for maintaining energy bubbles, I'm sure Tesla would have been on top of trying to get that to work, but maintaining dirrectional energy (not to be confised with radial energy) is still a bit out of our reach even if it is possible (which most scientists belive it isn't).
For more fun on Dirrectional Energy, look up the Tesla Ray/Death Ray/Tesla Death Ray.
Edit: johnandeileen2000.... you could... they did, granted as a kiddie film, "Explorers". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089114/
2007-07-26 13:16:05 · answer #5 · answered by Nebai 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Science fiction ..
Why the fixation with exceeding light speed ???
As you approach the speed of light, an effect known as Time Dilation means time slows down ... go fast enough and time essentially stops ..
Anyway, we already have the design of a practical star ship .. but because it's nuclear powered it's politically unacceptable
2007-07-26 12:34:06 · answer #6 · answered by Steve B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
scientists are still exploring the way to harness the speed of light,each decade they get a little closer to succeeding,but i think it will be a long way into the future before we will be able to travel to the outer stars and planets.
2007-07-26 12:35:50 · answer #7 · answered by biker 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we are light years away from that .. and even if we did do that it would take 4 years to get to the nearest star (not the sun)
2007-07-27 05:47:35 · answer #8 · answered by Donatello 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you could even base a sci fie story on that premise.
2007-07-29 13:27:00 · answer #9 · answered by johnandeileen2000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
keep watchin star trek thats about how close we are!
2007-07-26 12:23:37 · answer #10 · answered by superman 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋