4 ms·
If I read it right, the magnetic field does not "disperse" through the channel; it's as strong at the exit as at the entrance. It's not a shortcut in the speed
by tangent128 11y ago
If I read it right, the magnetic field does not "disperse" through the channel; it's as strong at the exit as at the entrance.
It's not a shortcut in the speed-of-light sense, but it does appear to change the topology of space from the field's perspective.
- kbenson 11y agoWhen this was reported there the other week (through some summary article), it was unclear to me. I was looking, because my first thought was that if it's actually skipping that space, and if it's instantaneous, isn't that FTL communication? You could encode information in magnetic fluctuations.
- yoha 11y agoIndeed. The light speed limit is only valid when moving through space. If you bypass it, nothing actually stops it from having FTL (Faster Than Light) communications/travel. To understand wormholes or portals from the Valve game, you can think of our 3D universe as a 2D sheet of paper. You cannot move along the sheet of paper faster than light; however, if you bend the piece of paper, you can make it so that two different points on the sheet touch. A wormhole is just this pair of points, and finding a way to switch between the two connected pieces of paper. Since those two points are actually in the same location, traveling from one to another should be instantaneous.
- logfromblammo 11y agoIt is disingenuous to call it a wormhole. It would be more accurate to call it a shielded conductor of magnetic field lines. This is no more a wormhole for magnetism than a coaxial cable is a wormhole for RF signals.
- themartorana 11y agoWell, minus that whole wire thing.