Travel to Mars in 3 hours (Air force studies Trek tech)

The Scotsman ^ | January 5 2006 | Ian Johnston

[jbwbubba]

AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.

The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.

The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and result in thrust for a spacecraft.

Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster, allowing incredible speeds to be reached. Switching off the magnetic field would result in the engine reappearing in our current dimension.

The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny.

[Dead Corpse]

"Hey Mom? Can I go to Mars this weekend?"

"Yes dear. But only if you get your homework done first and you promise to get home before supper..."

[King Prout]

a question: have you ever heard of "Casimir Radiation" in real theoretical physics, or is it just a bit of sci-fi Roddenberryism?

[King Prout]

tachyons.

last I checked, their existence is not confirmed.

[TChris]

One point twenty-one gigawatts

Isn't that supposed to be jiggawatts? ;-)

[FFIGHTER]

Dr. Zefram Cochrane is working on it.

[Dead Corpse]

Radiation? No. Casimir Effect yes. Advances in nanotech are needed to exploit this though. As it stands, there ain't much they can do with it that would be useful on a macro scale.

[King Prout]

that's the thing. thanks. so it is real.

hrmn...

bets: Casimir Effect will have big play in these electromagnetically created artificial bubble-dimensions the author is talking about.

[Renegade]

Thanks . I saw a sci-fi/horror movie and it dealt with communication to the PAST by using (tachyons). Amazing what we have discovered in the last 50 100 years .

[Dead Corpse]

Tachyons. Experiments purposed. Nothing found yet. We keep finding new subluminal particles. Chances are, we'll continue finding really weird stuff as we up the energies used.

[Dead Corpse]

Hhmmm... maybe. Casimir is a vaccuum effect brought about by charge. If anything, these bubble-dimensions/field envelopes could use the Casimir effect for locomotion. More than likely, it'll be a power source for nanomachines. The Z Machine is a completely different animal.

The article is referring to a ultra-high energy field state that can actually "seperate" or "shield" an area of space-time from the rest of the reference frame. This is a direct analog to an Einstien-Rosen bridge. It's just that instead of creating a "tunnel", think of it as if you were pushing a cue ball through a nylon. It'd open in front and close behind as you moved. Causality wouldn't come into play as you wouldn't actually be moving in relation to your enclosed reference frame.

I guess another way to look at this would be submarine supercavitation. Think of space-time as the water. Normally, you've got a lot of drag. Cavitate, and you are no longer dealing with having to push all that water out of the way first. The trick is getting that cavitation bubble going first. Generate enough GeV into a field around you and you should be floating encased in a QGC bubble.

[King Prout]

thus "bubble universe"

I grok the concept.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Now we have to rehab our castle.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

LOL!!

[M Kehoe]

Hey Leppy, this guy with the machine gun moniker is talking about you in post 63. He called you "neutral." Now, I've known you a long time, and you are anything but neutral. I think you should give him a piece of your mind.

5.56mm

[Lazamataz]

Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster

So that means I could see the chick naked before she could see me peeking in the window.

See, I'd use this technology for something useful.

Stupid scientists only want to go to Mars. Pshaw.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

By "studied" they mean we've taken apart the one we have in Area 51 and are figuring out how to put it into a DeLorean.

[Lazamataz]

[Nanotechnology] just doesn't have funky blinking lights or makes cool whooshing sounds.

Incorrect.

It's just that they are little tiny blinking lights and little soft whooshing sounds.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

You are right - the furthest point Mars is from Earth is about 150 million miles - you are only talking about 13 minutes!!

[Windsong]

"All these theories of alternate dimensions are nonsense."

So how did "possessions" take place in the first century?

[inquest]

You are right - the furthest point Mars is from Earth is about 150 million miles - you are only talking about 13 minutes!!

That sounds more like the distance Mars is from the sun. We're eight light-minutes from the sun, and since Mars is the next planet out from us, the total distance between the two of us when we're on opposite sides of the sun has to be more than 16 minutes - probably around 20 minutes, I'd say.