Hessian Arcturus
S.W.O.R.D. Navy
313
   |
Posted - 2013.08.04 00:33:00 -
[1] - Quote
Therese Amsel wrote:That's not how warp drives work, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.
Kitty Bear wrote:Therese Amsel wrote:That's not how warp drives work, nothing we know of yet can travel faster than the speed of light. fixed
I agree with you fixing this...
Neutrinos travel at precicely the speed of light. So for all we know there's some particle out there that may travel faster.
To outright state that nothing travels faster than light without proof to your cause is silly. The special theory of relativity states theory in it's title for a reason.
It's human nature to want to explore. To find your line and go beyond it. The only limit, is the one you set yourself. |
Hessian Arcturus
S.W.O.R.D. Navy
313
|
Posted - 2013.08.04 01:24:00 -
[2] - Quote
Steve Ronuken wrote:The Theory of Relativity may only be a theory. But it's one which has, so far, survived all observational data. So to discount it would be, umm, silly.
Relativistic physics are somewhat counter intuitive. The theory states (layman's terms. I'm not a physicist):
Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, in any reference frame (i.e. no matter that speed you're travelling at, if you measure the speed of light, you'll get the same value. and nothing can move faster than that)
This leads to a couple of interesting effects:
As you get closer to the speed of light, Time passes more slowly for you. (Time Dilation) (it has to, so when you shine a torch, the light doesn't travel faster than any other light)
As you get closer to the speed of light, distance contracts for you.
These do apply at lower speeds, though it's not particularly noticeable. It is enough to be measured though.
You missunderstood my point 
I did not discount the theory of relativity, it has paved the way for modern scientific advancement and the majority of physics theories as of late. What I was stating is that for all we know some particle that we cannot observe at our current time may be able to surpass lightspeed.
For example, the special theory of relativity states that a particle, one which has rest mass, with subluminal velocity needs an infinate amount of energy to accelerate to, and surpass the speed of light. However the theory does not forbid the existence of particles that travel faster than light at all times such as tachyonic particle, which, while purely a hypothetical particle, always moves faster than light.
No experiments have confirmed this particle as of yet. One of the reasons is due to the particle always travelling at post lightspeed, therefore we would not see it coming. However experiments have been done and are ongoing, that search for the illusive particle, which shows that not all physicist agree with Einsteins theory.
Another theory that dissagrees with the theory is M Theory (a theory that elaborates on string theory). But thats complete codswallop. (If there is any M Theorists reading this, I'm only kidding, as an Astrophysocist myself I tent to dissagree with the theory, but thats another story).
But anyway, back to my original point, one cannot just assume that nothing travels faster than light. Theory dictates that most physics follows a certain set of rules that dissallows it. However, other theories do allow for it.
EDIT: Apologies, my spelling was terrible.
EDIT 2: Apoligies again, spelling was still terrible.
It's human nature to want to explore. To find your line and go beyond it. The only limit, is the one you set yourself. |