Replies

See the point where the C problem falls apart is when you start considering things like “warp drive.” Someone’s going to jump on me here, so I’ll don my asbestos suit, but anyway...

It has been mathematically proven theoretically possible to fold space-time so that you are not travelling locally faster than the speed of light, but to an outside observer you travel many times faster than light. You don’t violate general relativity (or special relativity). We already know that space-time can be formed by incredibly massive objects (stars, massive planets) so it follows through special relativity that since E=mc^2, you can replace a mass with a certain amount of energy equal to the mas multiplied by the square of the speed of light, so theoretically we should be able to (with enough energy) bend space-time.

Now, this was a VERY simplified explanation, but I will try to find a link to the paper that I read on the subject. The down side is that in order to generate sufficient energy, you pretty well need to use matter-antimatter reactions. And we currently have no way of mass-producing antimatter.

Hope I didn’t geek out too far.

Dude, I understood that before the math was done - for some reason it always made sense to me. My physics teacher in college liked the idea so much we spent hours working on the basic model of how it would work. Neither of us had the math to get there. Now, as you point out, the issue is the power to do it. My current theory is that a stable wormhole may be easier to generate and hold with a smaller amount of power than folding space and time. I continue my search for a ZPM!!

Let them jump. Part of being an engineer is dreaming, part is doing the dirty work to make the dream come true. Remember that when I was in school for engineering there was no such thing as a communication device that had a flip top - except in Star Trek. So much science fiction has come true in the last 40 years it is scary. Aircraft invisible to radar was once thought to be impossible. Electric cars that can go further than around the block.

With enough time and money I can deliver any product you like.