will furure spacecraft be able to travel faster than the speed of light i.e. hyperdrive/warp drive?
2007-11-08 04:29:50 · 16 answers · asked by jakob2788 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
could we harness the earth's core and take the earth faster then the speed of light?
2007-11-08 05:03:38 · update #1
Einstein proposed equations to show that if a mass were accelerated to the speed of light then its mass would tend towards infinity. An infinite mass is clearly impossible so therefore is the speed of light for anything with mass.
2007-11-08 06:11:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Theoretical and experimental physics has shown that the approach to light speed requires exponentially larger amounts of energy. It takes enormous amounts just to accelerate alpha particles to 99.9999% light speed. The conclusion is that it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate something to the speed of light.
Quantumc..., history is full of such incorrect statements. Donald Simanek's site has a whole list of them:
.http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/neverwrk.htm
But some statements may be correct, as we have learned by actual observation, that certain limits exist in the Universe and that certain laws can never be broken. The speed of light is one of them. Lord Kelvin was wrong when he said radio has no future. Skeptics were wrong when they said heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible, or that the speed of sound could not be broken. But there is one thing all of these statements have in common: there was no legitimate scientific reason why they should be impossible. The speed of light is not like that. The physics is conclusive. There is no way around it, as this is a Universal constant, not a local one. It is one hope that I think even Robert Goddard would not hold out for. Simanek's site ends with a quote from him: "The dreams of yesterday are the hopes of today and the reality of tomorrow." This is one dream that will never be any more than a dream, I fear.
2007-11-08 04:41:01 · answer #2 · answered by Brant 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
While it may be a possibility it would be a logistical nightmare for the person(s) traveling at that speed. The current problem with traveling at the speed of light is that years would fly by around the traveler while the traveler remains at the same age he left. That would mean the further the distance that the person traveled the more aging would occur from where the person left. Upon returning the traveler might find that they had been gone for a millennium and completely out of touch with the times to which they returned.
2007-11-08 04:53:41 · answer #3 · answered by Matt F 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not really. The reason is that light is a micromass particle.
The velocity of the motion of objecrs is related to the inherent mass contents. The Bigger the mass content of the object the slower it moves.Light being the smaller mass structure in the Universe is therefore the faster moving micromass in the Universe.
If a gross mass structure was given Power to move at the speed of light ,its internal structure would be chalenged. The result is that ,it would breack apart into its basic mass components.
2007-11-08 05:09:30 · answer #4 · answered by goring 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only if you're a photon traveling in a vacuum. I doubt that man will ever have the ability to travel at that speed, or even close to it, due to the stresses on any structure required to house the crew, the stresses on the crew itself, and the amount of power needed to achieve that speed. At that speed, you basically BECOME energy, per the equation E=MC*2*, (Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared).
2007-11-08 04:39:15 · answer #5 · answered by Stephen H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Right now, yes, but only if you're a photon.
In 1893, the secretary of the Patent office in America said they should just close it down - because anything that can be invented HAS been invented. (He was wrong). While we don't have any idea how to do it now, I wouldn't want to bet against developing technology that might accomplish faster than light travel. I just don't think it'll be within our lifetimes.
2007-11-08 04:37:48 · answer #6 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Human Beings do not yet have the technology to travel faster than light. Such a speed possible, but will not be available to humans for some time yet.
2007-11-08 05:24:23 · answer #7 · answered by barbara596 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of the reasons that prevents 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 noooo.
2007-11-08 07:04:43 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do the same questions keep coming up? No, we will never be able to do it because it would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate a space craft through the light barrier (or even to achieve the speed of light).
2007-11-08 05:01:08 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Einstein's theory of relativity states that nothing (except light) can travel a the speed of light. However, I have seen Star Trek and that is true.
xxR
2007-11-08 04:34:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋