3 ms·
New warp drive concept does twist space, doesn't move us fast
- krapp 2y agoThe premise that the speed of light remains an absolute limit even if warp drives are possible, while depressing, makes sense. The article didn't mention whether this version of the Alcubierre drive would be useful for intra-system travel, although I suspect it would shake out that the energy requirements would be so great as to make it less efficient than regular old rockets. But a Cowboy Bebop style portal network that gets us around the solar system at even a fraction of C would still be useful. As an aside, Google now says Mars is 3.5 light years away, thanks to an obviously AI generated "expert answer" from a site I've never even heard of. An excerpt: It would take around 3.5 years to get to Mars at the speed of light, but current technology can only achieve a fraction of that speed, making it impossible for humans to travel that fast. Therefore, spacecraft take about seven months to reach Mars. I really, really hate AI.
- perihelions 2y agohttps://arxiv.org/abs/2405.02709 https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.02709
- mcswell 2y agoThere was a SciFi story that sort of anticipated this. A researcher discovers how to move into an alternate dimension (parallel to ours, not like the "rolled up" dimensions that are said to exist in some versions of String Theory). It turns out that the speed of light is slower in this other dimension. Disappointed, he brings the result to a supervisor, who tells him this was already known. The researcher asks why this result hasn't been made known, and is told there is still hope that someone will find another dimension, where the speed of light is faster. I may be garbling the story a bit, and unfortunately I remember neither the title nor the author. And of course in this article, the speed of light is the same, not slower. But still.