Posted on 06/23/2009 6:17:33 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
"Star Trek" makes faster-than-light travel look easy, but according to new calculations by Italian physicists, a warp drive could easily create a black hole that would incinerate any passengers on a space craft and then suck Earth into a black hole. "Warp drives are so far the best case scenario to attain faster-than-light travel," said Stefano Finazzi of Italy's International School for Advanced Studies. This paper "makes it much harder to realize, if not almost impossible, warp drives." ...Other physicists agree with the Italians' calculations, up to a point. "It's a good paper; their results are sound," said Gerald Cleaver, a professor of physics at Baylor University who reviewed the work. The results make sense, at least, when creating warp drive using exotic matter in a universe where 1 plus 1 equals 2. In a universe where 1 plus 1 equals 3, a possibility with string theory instead of the semi classical physics used by the Italians, a stable warp drive is viable. Last year Cleaver and co-author Richard Obousy detailed a string theory-based warp drive that creates a bubble of space time by expanding one of the tiny, rolled-up dimensions (instead of a bubble of dark energy) predicted by string theory. The biggest sticking point to a extra dimension-based warp drive? The entire mass of Jupiter would have to be converted into pure energy to power it.
(Excerpt) Read more at dsc.discovery.com ...
"Captain, your misgivings about the warp engines are duly noted. But, as the ranking officer on board, I ORDER you to set out for Starbase 12 immediately at maximum warp speed."
"Don't listen to them."
TOO COOL ,, a RED shirt and a flunky of the Evil Kirk!
Actually the “tarp” drive relies on two government officials to shovel newly printed money into the ionization
chamber, thus creating hot gas which propels congress forward. It’s rather slow and ponderous but it works fine as long as the paper and ink holds out.
Casper Lindley: She can't be serious, can she? Vaporize the whole damn planet?
Buckaroo Banzai: You wanna roll all those dice, Casper?
Casper Lindley: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not me, man, not me.
Scientist 1: “...a warp drive could easily create a black hole that would incinerate any passengers on a space craft and then suck Earth into a black hole.”
Scientist 2: “Let’s do it.”
Dude, just buy a Nissan Pulsar and install a Zenith in it. You’ll be mad pimpin’!
bump
thanks, bfl
Naw...ya gotta combine it with red matter for that to happen.
what happened for real is some dude from Tralfamadore was experimenting with a new rocket fuel and poof....the whole universe disappeared...but that was in the future....
Glad to see the little 0 is a redshirt and a new crewman at that.
....smart people get tongue in cheek....unless it so obtuse as to make tongue in cheek, irrelevant.
We all know what happens to red shirts...
a right handed forward accelerator....
Ohh yeah ? BTW ?? I also forgot ? DON’T PUSH THE GREEN BUTTON !!!
-—<>-—<>-—<>-—<>-—<>-—
Umm... I must break this to you-— The “GREEN BUTTON” turns the accelerator OFF.
The RED BUTTON turns it on, since it is more dangerous that way.
I hope your faulty information hasn’t gotten someone to do something indiscreet...
LOL!
Does this mean I should sell my dilithium crystals on Ebay, or shouldn’t?
Oh no! Someone has already sold one! Kirk?
http://shatner-store.stores.yahoo.net/sttrprdicrfr.html
That was in the future on THAT timeline, but it was in the past on roughly 6,233,942 other timelines.
Well, that would solve the “Democrat” problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.