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So mastering the energy Of gravity could be the ultimate advanced civilization objective. A warp drive is just the first practical (or at least the most obvious
by omegant 13y ago
So mastering the energy Of gravity could be the ultimate advanced civilization objective. A warp drive is just the first practical (or at least the most obvious) aplication of such technology. <_end Startrek like voice>
- maxerickson 13y agoA reactionless drive (that just pushes on spacetime instead of trying to alter it) is probably even more practical.
- jp555 13y agovacuum propeller. Imagine if a submarine had to carry all the water it's propeller pushes on? That's rockets today. If we could make a vacuum propeller, that acts directly upon space-time, it would radically transform the prospect of space travel.
- deletes 13y agoThey are doing research in this direction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_vacuum_plasma_thruster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_vacuum_plasma_thruster
- mladenkovacevic 13y agoYour comment just put a big goofy grin on my face.
- hackinthebochs 13y agoWarp drive would at the very least require an equivalent finding for momentum.
- jerf 13y agoMastering THE ENERGY OF GRAVITY! is trivial. Pick something up right now. Now, lift it over your head. You've given it GRAVITATIONAL ENERGY! Now, drop it. It has now expressed its GRAVITATIONAL ENERGY! Do not confuse science fiction with science fact. Exactly, exactly how gravity works is a mystery, yes, but interacting with the gravitational field is very, very settled science. If you want to harness the mighty power of gravity, build more tidal harnesses.
- saalweachter 13y agoNot to mention that gravity is kind of puny even at that scale. The rate of energy loss from the Earth's rotation due to the tides is about 3.3 TW. In 2007, the US consumed about 3.1 TW.
- wcoenen 13y agoAnother way to look at this is that human civilization consumes a scary amount of power. Our global energy consumption in 2008 was estimated to be 474 exajoules. The total energy received by the earth from the sun during a year is about 5 million exajoules, a fraction of which reaches the surface. So we are only a factor 10,000 away from that. At a seemingly modest 2% yearly growth rate, we could increase our energy consumption a hundredfold in two centuries, and waste heat will start to become an issue.
- saalweachter 13y agoYep, even today waste heat is equal to something like 5%[1] of the global heat gain. Still the lesser problem today, but once we bring a petawatt of clean fusion online... [1] it's been awhile since I looked up this number. Could easily be an order of magnitude lower, which is still fairly impressive.
- maxerickson 13y agoWhat is 'the global heat gain'?
- saalweachter 13y agoThe imbalance between how much energy the Earth receives (mostly from the sun, but also including terrestrial sources like radioactive decay in the Earth's core) and how much energy it radiates into space. The number I have in my head -- it's been awhile since I looked it up -- is that the imbalance is about 200 terawatts. For comparison, about 122 petawatts are absorbed from the sun, the Earth's fiery core generates about 45 terawatts, and humans currently produce around 16 terawatts. So the Earth is absorbing hundreds of petawatts, radiating hundreds of petawatts, and the tiny, tiny surplus of 200 terawatts is slowly heating the Earth (mostly the oceans). Incidentally, this heat gain could be counteracted by dumping about 12 cubic miles of ice into the ocean each day. Antarctica has about 6 million cubic miles of ice, so you'd get a good thousand years out of that strategy.