3 ms·

Another point for using warp drive (=

• altrego99 14y ago
  Meh. We just need radiation shields.
  • fleitz 14y ago
    Which in this case would just be an incredibly strong magnetic field...
    • kansface 14y ago
      What about neutral particles?
      • ccozan 14y ago
        Answer: inhomogeneous magnetic fields. See the Stern–Gerlach experiment. So basically your spaceship needs to have the core part in a spinning sphere generating such a magnetic field. Also not to forget the gravitational attraction which would make the free particles in space quite attracted to your bulk spaceship, following you like mosquitos :).
    • kansface 14y ago
      What about neutral particles?
• gliese1337 14y ago
  Not necessarily. There are some interesting potential radiation issues with "warp drives" as well. For example, at the boundary of a warp bubble of the generally-Alcubierre-like variety, space is shearing / expanding such that virtual particle pairs are incapable of recombining, just like at an event horizon. That could potentially create a great deal of radiation draining energy from the warp field. Additionally, what happens to particles that are intercepted by the travelling bubble? They don't just disappear!
  • serfdomroad 14y ago
    Do you have any other info/links on the problems associated with the Alcubierre?
    • gliese1337 14y ago
      Here is a paper on the results of interactions with external matter en-route: http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.5708 http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.5708 With a couple of popularizations: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/04/killer_warp_drive/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/04/killer_warp_drive/ http://www.universetoday.com/93882/warp-drives-may-come-with-a-killer-downside/ http://www.universetoday.com/93882/warp-drives-may-come-with... (Essentially, particles encountered en-route pile up near the boundary and are released in a large burst when you turn the thing off, which is potentially very bad for the local environment, of which you are a part.) And here's a paper on the horizon-like properties of the warp bubble boundary: http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~scilooe/srp_2003/sci_paper/phy/research_paper/pua_yeong_heng.pdf http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~scilooe/srp_2003/sci_paper/...
    • ars 14y ago
      > on the problems associated with the Alcubierre? You mean aside from the fact that it doesn't exist? It's a mathematical solution to some equations - it's not an actual physical thing.
• Ygg2 14y ago
  Wouldn't a jump drive work slightly better in this case?