MAJOR DISCOVERY 2nd Earth found......

[VI0L3NCE]

... new planet........ just leave it alone u stupid scientists

[ArgonV]

Originally Posted by DrunkenPirate

I got first dibs on any oil.

You can have your oil. I want a rainforest!

[wtf.panda]

You know, I just wondered something else. Say what I proposed is correct and 20 years of light speed only takes 3 months; would you need enough power for 3 months light speed or for 20 years?

That is just it though, it is theory of what might happen. No one knows what will happen, they just take educated guesses at it. I always wondered why we haven't atleast tried to get something up to light speed.

Edit: Or I should say something besides lasers.....or a solid something, a rocket or missle.

[ArgonV]

Originally Posted by wtf.panda

That is just it though, it is theory of what might happen. No one knows what will happen, they just take educated guesses at it. I always wondered why we haven't atleast tried to get something up to light speed.

Edit: Or I should say something besides lasers.....or a solid something, a rocket or missle.

Well, first off all, you'd need to do it in space. Air resistance and gravity might not seem like much, but at those speeds, you want to avoid any and all things that could slow it down.

Secondly, you'd need more power to accelerate to light speed than we can generate in portable power supplies.

And how would you measure it? If you were to get something travelling at light speed, it'd be 300.000 km (about 200.000 miles) away from you after one second. For comparison, the moon is 384.000 km away..

That's three major problems right there.

[wtf.panda]

Originally Posted by ArgonV

Well, first off all, you'd need to do it in space. Air resistance and gravity might not seem like much, but at those speeds, you want to avoid any and all things that could slow it down.

Secondly, you'd need more power to accelerate to light speed than we can generate in portable power supplies.

And how would you measure it? If you were to get something travelling at light speed, it'd be 300.000 km (about 200.000 miles) away from you after one second. For comparison, the moon is 384.000 km away..

That's three major problems right there.

See that, to me, is what seems like would make it easy. If there is no friction in space, doesn't that mean things should never slow down, and thus constantly speed up? So if I threw a rock into space, eventually(After several thousand years) it should reach the speed of light assuming it doesn't hit anything else, or come into the gravitational field of another object....right? And if I personally designed it, I wouldn't 'measure' it like you measure a car speed with a radar gun or something, I would put devices on it and have them send the signal back.

But all of what I just said is probably completely wrong, because it just sounds to easy to be true.

[ArgonV]

Yeah.

In space you don't automatically speed up, but you don't slow down, because there's no friction. The energy an object has is equal to 1/2*mass in kg*(speed in m/s)^2. So to gain more speed, you need to gain more energy. Friction eats away at this energy, hence slowing you down (mass is constant and 1/2 is a constant)

So as far as your rock is concerned, it'd travel at a constant speed in space, slow down in gas nebulas and accelerate when caught in a gravitational field.

Your transmitter idea is brilliantly simple though. Radio waves travel at roughly the speed of light. So if the transmitter transmits one signal per second, you'd receive the first signal after a second, the second signal after two seconds, third signal after three seconds, etc.

It's just that every gram you add to the probe makes it so that it needs more energy to reach light speed.

[DisabledVet]

Friction fraction blah blah blah.... lets say you can go the speed of light... and you can carry enough or scavenge enough raw material from your voyage to create enough energy to sustain your journey at light speed... but your forgetting one thing... a tiny tiny spec of dust hitting a spacecraft going the speed of light would..well... I think you know... so really its much more difficult that we think.

A more probable way is to fold space and use a worm hole to move between distances.. instantaneous and much easier on the equipment. And besides as physics catches up to the Star Track age, it will be possible.

Heck, physicists have just proved that things don't exist until we notice them.

[ArgonV]

Originally Posted by DisabledVet

Heck, physicists have just proved that things don't exist until we notice them.

I thought that was basic quantum physics? Wave/particle duality and all that jazz?

And yeah, I hadn't thought about specks of dust. Maybe a static electricity shield or something?

[DisabledVet]

Originally Posted by ArgonV

Maybe a static electricity shield or something?

Yeah.... that would work... heck it works for the Titans

[ArgonV]

The solution is soooooooooooooo easy... Just pull the spaceship out of phase with the universe. Dust would pass right through it

[Fingulfin]

Originally Posted by DisabledVet

Heck, physicists have just proved that things don't exist until we notice them.

In layman's terms: Until you focus your attention on something, the engine doesn't render it, thus preventing LAG!

[DisabledVet]

With no friction in space you would need some sort of a minor energy collector and expel only a tiny bit of thrust..but it would continue to build to light speed.. no?

[Krewsader]

Originally Posted by DisabledVet

With no friction in space you would need some sort of a minor energy collector and expel only a tiny bit of thrust..but it would continue to build to light speed.. no?

YES! ...dont u love how intellegent our conversations can be?

[DisabledVet]

Originally Posted by Krewsader

YES! ...dont u love how intellegent our conversations can be?

Yes..but I also love how quick we can digress into complete utter idiocy... remember

THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!

[Krewsader]

Originally Posted by DisabledVet

Yes..but I also love how quick we can digress into complete utter idiocy... remember

THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!

HHAHAA yea its awesome inst it?