Possible warp drive may allow Alpha Centauri to be reached "in a mere two weeks"

[Skwink]

Wow, one day we're just driving a robot on Mars, and then two weeks later we have the ability to get to Alpha Centauri.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Wow, one day we're just driving a robot on Mars, and then two weeks later we have the ability to get to Alpha Centauri.

You're right...it seems that the human saga is speeding up. Perhaps this means...

No...it can't be right...

By...by my calculations...

We could be playing Half-Life 3 in 2050.

 

[Skwink]

You're right...it seems that the human saga is speeding up. Perhaps this means...

No...it can't be right...

By...by my calculations...

We could be playing Half-Life 3 in 2050.

It's already been released in Alpha Centauri IIRC. That's why we're trying to get there.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Is anyone but the 100 Year Starship conference taking the technology (not its interstellar application) seriously? I mean, pardon the pun, but it sounds like Treknobabble to me, reading it in that article.

What if you wind up with District-9-style pests? Or StarshipTroopers bugs?

KILL IT WITH FIRE.

 

[choxorn]

Wow, one day we're just driving a robot on Mars, and then two weeks later we have the ability to get to Alpha Centauri.

This. If only this could be made practical, I would have the biggest sciencegasm ever.

 

[Skwink]

This. If only this could be made practical, I would have the biggest sciencegasm ever.

You just gotta wait two more weeks now!

 

[Synobun]

Wow, one day we're just driving a robot on Mars, and then two weeks later we have the ability to get to Alpha Centauri.

This article was released shortly after the landing.

Seriously. I even dug through my Pinterest to find it.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/geek...ysics-may-star-trek-warp-drive-210452696.html

---

In terms of Treknobabble, all future space science will sound like it. Not everything needs to be a sore disappointment laced with disasters.

The Enterprise will never exist, but maybe one day our species will span across the stars. Good enough for me.

 

[Leoreth]

Is anyone but the 100 Year Starship conference taking the technology (not its interstellar application) seriously? I mean, pardon the pun, but it sounds like Treknobabble to me, reading it in that article.

The article isn't that good, but I've read the original paper on the Alcubierre drive a few years ago and it seemed legit (of course I'm not an expert on General Relativity so that doesn't have to mean anything).

It all hinges of course on the assumption that matter with negative mass can exist. We have no reason to believe that this is the case right now.

 

[Agent327]

I wonder why this thread isn't in Science & Tech...

 

[Synobun]

I wonder why this thread isn't in Science & Tech...

Its implications are much larger than just the field of science.

 

[Leoreth]

I wonder why this thread isn't in Science & Tech...

So someone reads it.

 

[El_Machinae]

This article has been around for months. I'm surprised it's only now getting huge public attention.

No it hasn't, you're thinking of something else. He presented this idea at a symposium in October

This is basically the same idea as my time machine that is powered by fairies and unicorns, just with slightly harder maths.

But now it needs fewer unicorns!

Is exotic matter predicted to exist? Antimatter was predicted (by the maths) decades before it was found.

We need to get back on the trendline, sipping soda and watching sports won't do it.

 

[Synobun]

No it hasn't, you're thinking of something else. He presented this idea at a symposium in October last year.

Fixed.

The article in the OP is more in-depth and personal than the one I linked, but the concept and news remains the same.

 

[Leoreth]

Is exotic matter predicted to exist? Antimatter was predicted (by the maths) decades before it was found.

It's hasn't really been predicted to exist. Its status is basically "it'd be cool if it existed because then we could plug it into these pesky equations and still get what we want".

 

[El_Machinae]

It's hasn't really been predicted to exist. Its status is basically "it'd be cool if it existed because then we could plug it into these pesky equations and still get what we want".

My opinion is that this type of research is easily worth the token amounts that it is funded. It's kinda like SETI that way, in that the payoff would be really huge and the net cost is (in context) peanuts.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It's hasn't really been predicted to exist. Its status is basically "it'd be cool if it existed because then we could plug it into these pesky equations and still get what we want".

Unobtanium! It has to go faster than light, those rocks can float ZOMG!

My opinion is that this type of research is easily worth the token amounts that it is funded. It's kinda like SETI that way, in that the payoff would be really huge and the net cost is (in context) peanuts.

Great point.

 

[kochman]

Alright, let's cut to the chase, should I be getting my gear ready to pioneer out there or not?

 

[LamaGT]

So now all that quantum physics actually can have a practical implementation
I like the fact that theoretically we could have short interstellar travel (and I suppose that this could pretty much be applied to any distance?), but obviously this is just the theory based on another theory that may very well be not true. Still, it will be interesting to see how we'll be able to push the boundaries of physics.

 

[Crezth]

So now all that quantum physics actually can have a practical implementation
.

It has already got that. :/

 

[Catharsis]

Alright, let's cut to the chase, should I be getting my gear ready to pioneer out there or not?

Probably not worth going out specifically to buy pioneering gear, but if you already own pioneering gear (and I'm guessing you do), it might be a good idea to move it a little closer to the front door.

I will not be on the starship as I will be staying at home to develop the newest educational game for earthbound primary-schoolers, 'Orion Trail'.