3 ms·

This is like 50 steps ahead of anything that's actually happening, but I have to wonder what the potential destructive power of a warp-drive style FTL drive is.

by ufmace 13y ago

This is like 50 steps ahead of anything that's actually happening, but I have to wonder what the potential destructive power of a warp-drive style FTL drive is. If you can create a spacetime distortion strong enough to move a ship around at FTL speeds, what happens when that distortion gets anywhere near the Earth? Will it cause some sort of total destruction to an enormous area? Change the orbit of the moon, the earth, asteroids? It would have a big effect on how any ships with such a drive are used. It could be sort of like SSBNs, where only major governments have them, and they only allow extremely senior and trusted people to operate them.

Udo 13y ago
Yes, it would likely be very destructive - however, once you have massive, fast ships moving around the solar system the Earth will be in danger anyway, warp-tech or no. I think it's too early to speculate meaningfully about safe distances and danger levels when it comes to this technology, which as you correctly presumed doesn't exist yet. The press is hugely missing the point when they steam ahead using nonsense StarTrek analogies without an apparent clue of what's (im)possible with today's technology, but neither are the people in here getting it who are stuck lecturing each other about causality violations. This is not about speed or acceleration, or even the transmission of information. It's about bending space time. Let's not forget the enormity of that concept, but let's also admire this potentially useful shortcut that might open up for us in the far future. Current models are purely theoretical and work on a basis that is pretty similar to carrying a black hole around. Needless to say, in an age where we don't even have the energy to reach Earth orbit economically, the power requirements of such a technology are nothing but prohibitive. But even if we had enough power (and hence mass) to warp space by brute force, it would be a huge event that needs to happen far away from planets. While the general principle is interesting, I think what we lack is a more sophisticated method of modifying the properties of space time, something that works on a smaller scale and can be more easily contained. "FTL" neutrinos were interesting for this exact reason (before they sadly turned out to be a measurement error) because they would have opened a door for us to access and manipulate space itself without having to resort to enormous and ultimately wasteful energies. I sure hope we'll discover how to do that in time.
- stan_rogers 13y ago
  That, and the potential for damage to space-time in general, were explored in Start Trek TNG. That's one of the things I liked about the series: the things that were invented as plot conveniences often had implications that themselves later became plot drivers. (Not always, of course. It was entertainment, not science. But often enough.)
kamaal 13y ago
Situation is largely similar to nuclear power. Though it had drastic implication for energy it could also be potentially a weapon and it is. I believe it will be the case even with warp-drive technology too. As always some people will always have something to fight on. I don't believe situation will change once we get access to colonizing the vast size of the universe. We will have everything(good and bad things) except that at the scale of universe now.

by ufmace 13y ago

Udo 13y ago

Yes, it would likely be very destructive - however, once you have massive, fast ships moving around the solar system the Earth will be in danger anyway, warp-tech or no. I think it's too early to speculate meaningfully about safe distances and danger levels when it comes to this technology, which as you correctly presumed doesn't exist yet. The press is hugely missing the point when they steam ahead using nonsense StarTrek analogies without an apparent clue of what's (im)possible with today's technology, but neither are the people in here getting it who are stuck lecturing each other about causality violations. This is not about speed or acceleration, or even the transmission of information. It's about bending space time. Let's not forget the enormity of that concept, but let's also admire this potentially useful shortcut that might open up for us in the far future. Current models are purely theoretical and work on a basis that is pretty similar to carrying a black hole around. Needless to say, in an age where we don't even have the energy to reach Earth orbit economically, the power requirements of such a technology are nothing but prohibitive. But even if we had enough power (and hence mass) to warp space by brute force, it would be a huge event that needs to happen far away from planets. While the general principle is interesting, I think what we lack is a more sophisticated method of modifying the properties of space time, something that works on a smaller scale and can be more easily contained. "FTL" neutrinos were interesting for this exact reason (before they sadly turned out to be a measurement error) because they would have opened a door for us to access and manipulate space itself without having to resort to enormous and ultimately wasteful energies. I sure hope we'll discover how to do that in time.

stan_rogers 13y ago
That, and the potential for damage to space-time in general, were explored in Start Trek TNG. That's one of the things I liked about the series: the things that were invented as plot conveniences often had implications that themselves later became plot drivers. (Not always, of course. It was entertainment, not science. But often enough.)

kamaal 13y ago

Situation is largely similar to nuclear power. Though it had drastic implication for energy it could also be potentially a weapon and it is. I believe it will be the case even with warp-drive technology too. As always some people will always have something to fight on. I don't believe situation will change once we get access to colonizing the vast size of the universe. We will have everything(good and bad things) except that at the scale of universe now.