Saturday, February 19, 2011

WARP Drive?

How awesome would fast interstellar travel be? Faster than light awesome, that much!

We all know WARP Drive from Star Trek. WARP Drive is a system that allows us to travel faster than light. And there is our first problem. Faster than light is a contradiction to the Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity which states that no matter can travel faster than the speed of light.
For WARP drive to work we also need to controll gravity. We don't know much about controlling gravity either. Then there is the fuel. In Star Trek the fuel is antimatter. Physicists know something about that (approximately 3rd point in the "Where are we now" list below) but not nearly enough to be used as some sort of fuel.


Interstellar Distances. Click on image to enlarge.



An artist's impression of WARP Drive.





Interesting view of mechanical part. By staus.



























So, is it possible?
Well, physics is not known enough yet and physicists agree that WARP Drive is not possible in the foreseeable future! However, if we stay positive, we can say that WD is possible and we are just not evolved enough.


Where are we now?
1. Assumption/preposition - The rough idea.
2. Hypothesis - Explanation of the idea.  ← Here we are at he moment.
3. Knowing - We have all the hypotheical knowledge and we know it can work. Theory, basically.
4. Technology - Technology is developed enough for the third stage.
5. Use - Practical use.

Alcubierre drive  - Actual model by a scientist Miguel Alcubierre.
Not Impossible - An article on space.com discussing WARP Drive.
NASA's Article - And why is interstellar travel so tough?

10 comments:

  1. JMchiefFebruary 19, 2011 at 7:16 PM

    Great post, I find theoretical physics very interesting.

    supporting :)

    http://jmchief93elite.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. World of ZeroFebruary 19, 2011 at 9:04 PM

    Traveling that fast would be a very bad idea. You would need to know exactly what would be in front of you and you would need to miss everything. Even a minor collision would result in the ship being destroyed.

    I'm all for wormholes and stuff but Warp Drives... I don't think that they can work.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TrolololoFebruary 20, 2011 at 11:17 AM

    Awesome post, dude! Keep up the good work, man. Will bookmark this blog, mos def!
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. mtnFebruary 20, 2011 at 2:39 PM

    uh, want now. how long till we get to step 5?

    ReplyDelete
  5. SiphilFebruary 20, 2011 at 3:48 PM

    Very cool, although like runewake2 said, it does seem like wormholes would be more practical.

    ReplyDelete
  6. forkfantasyFebruary 20, 2011 at 5:06 PM

    "We all know WARP Drive from Star Trek."

    We do?! :o

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymouseFebruary 20, 2011 at 8:26 PM

    my question is, what happens if you're travelling at approximately light speed, and you turn the headlights on?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Electric AddictFebruary 20, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    warp looks pretty trippy :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes!February 21, 2011 at 3:49 AM

    Anonymouse, speed of light is absolute not relative. Which means that if we were moving at approximately light speed, the speed of light would still be 3x10^5 km/s.

    ReplyDelete
  10. anon-o-mayseFebruary 21, 2011 at 4:56 AM

    I hope I live long enough to experience something like that.

    ReplyDelete

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