Warp drives are close.

[localzuk]

Yes we do need Jupiter. Jupiter is the solar systems vacuum cleaner it swallows up a lot of the space objects that would otherwise come into the inner solar system and near Earth.

 

I'm sure James Dyson could come up with some form of replacement...

[sted]

I'm sure James Dyson could come up with some form of replacement...

 

what a new bagless jupiter?

 

for actually travelling large distances as far as im aware there is nothing in the laws of physics that forbids the creation of wormholes which in theory can be man made and contrlled but again take huge amounts of energy to create and maintain. There is also the possibility of timetravel with a wormhole if you create both ends then take the output end away at near light speed little time will of passed at teh output end compared to the input so by entering the wormhole you would come out in the past relatively speaking

Edited May 28, 2010 by sted

[danrhodes]

No! A Jupiter that never looses suction, a plant that reall sucks!

[beeswax]

From this week's Guardian -

If I could travel faster than the speed of light, wouldn't I bump into things that I couldn't see?

If you have mass, then as you travel faster you get bigger. At the speed of light you would be the same size as the universe. So you would bump into everything.

Tony Scott, London

Jack Johnson asked how Star Trek's USS Enterprise manages to avoid collisions while travelling at warp-factor-eight, "much faster than the speed of light" (N&Q, 19 May).

Over great distances, light does not travel in a straight line, but is "warped" by the gravitational pull of large objects. Because we use light or other similarly affected electromagnetic waves to locate objects in space and measure their distance, we may be wildly overestimating their true, as-the-crow-flies-distance. USS Enterprise's warp drive disregards the light-derived view of the universe and enables the ship's navigation system to head directly towards its objective. Thus warp factor is not faster than light, but straighter than light. That's my understanding, anyway.

Robert Blanchard, London SE6

[SYNACK]

what a new bagless jupiter?

 

for actually travelling large distances as far as im aware there is nothing in the laws of physics that forbids the creation of wormholes which in theory can be man made and contrlled but again take huge amounts of energy to create and maintain. There is also the possibility of timetravel with a wormhole if you create both ends then take the output end away at near light speed little time will of passed at teh output end compared to the input so by entering the wormhole you would come out in the past relatively speaking

 

The last I heard was that the only mathematical model that allowed for wormholes would not allow both ends to open in the same spacetime domain so they would have to exist between two distinct universes/dimentions. With that taken into account you would need to open one to a different dimention (assuming their existance) and then open another back to where and when you wanted to go in your own. You would also need to survive the interum wait in the other dimention which may have differing physical laws than our own. Farsacape is a good program to look at which explores this a little, that and sliders, stargate does not fit the current science as closely .

[CHR1S]

Urgh, head hurts....

 

What about Dark/anti matter and things that can pass through other matter? How fast does that stuff go?

[apoth0r]

My Auntie Matter said 'If you pick it, it won't heal'

[Rydra]

Also don't forget that all speeds are relative. Travelling at or above the speed of light is not as such time travel. What you are in fact doing, is arriving at a place before what you have left has reached the destination. It's a bit like firing a bullet, and being able to out run it.

The physics of moving matter from one point in space and time, to another point in space and time is infinately complex, and beyond our current understanding and abilities.

(Consider that the earth spins on an axis, while orbiting the sun, which is in an orbiting galaxy, which probably orbits some other large body, in a universe that is ever expanding... So even if you worked out a way of moving back in time, to then reappear in the same spot would be like threading the head of the worlds smallest needle, while drunk, blindfolded, and riding a teacup ride that is in fact free-falling from 50,000 ft, with one hand tied behind your back.)

[SYNACK]

Urgh, head hurts....

 

What about Dark/anti matter and things that can pass through other matter? How fast does that stuff go?

Still limited to a max of just under light speed, antimatter is just like normal matter but made of subatomic particals in such a way that if it encounters normal matter the two will anhalate each other releasing energy. Dark matter is just matter that does not respond to electromagnetic radiation like light, or radio waves, not that we have actually grabed a handful of the stuff or anything yet but it should be touchable, its effected by gravity etc.

 

Neutrinos are the things that interact very weakly with normal matter and so can travel through the whole planet without hitting anything much, this is why they use huge isolated underground water pools to scan for them, they actually pass through the earth before by chance interacting with single atoms in the pool. These are ejected from stars with super high energy and travel at about as close to the speed of light as possible. Due to their nature nasa has actually looked into building a startrek style scanner using these and I think that they made some progress on it too.

[Arthur]

Still limited to a max of just under light speed

^^ Exactly. I'm surprised people think it's possible to travel faster than the speed of light. There is this thing called physics which prevents that.

 

Although the following video is more about time travel (future only) it does explain what happens when you get very close to the speed of light.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zrGkiPJn5s