NESchampion wrote:Charlie wrote:I've already thought of a machine(need to do the physics tests in 3DS Max) that will operate in zero-g, have no exghaust, and powered by a reactor will approach and surpass the speed of light, no bullshit.
Feel free to correct my relatively simple college physics and general science knowledge here, but isn't that technically impossible? I mean, unless your intention is to disprove or work
around Einstein's Theory of Relativity (E=mc^2)? As you approach the speed of light, mass increases; as mass increases, the Force required to continue accelerating towards the speed of light must increases (Fnet=ma), which would eventually become impossible to continue, as you would run out of energy to provide the ever-increasing Force to move the ever-increasing mass.
Yes, unless there's a serious and very well hidden flaw in relativity, you cannot go faster than light. There are two potential loopholes:
A) Wormholes. You can connect together two points in space by a very short tunnel and go through that. The loophole this uses is that you never actually travel faster than light, but you cover a massive distance much faster than you ever could otherwise.
B) Bending space. This is the Alcubierre drive, essentially you stretch out space behind you and compress it in front, making a bubble around you that travels faster than light. The loophole here is that you're not actually moving, and objects in space are prevented from moving faster than light--however, this does not apply to space itself. The bubble of space you're in travels well beyond c.
A benefit to both of these is you wouldn't experience any time dilation like you would traveling at relativistic velocities for real. There's also the old hyperspace/subspace/the Warp/whatever device, but there's zero evidence of anything like that existing.
And other than warping space, no, you cannot travel without exhaust. Exhaust is what provides thrust. The solar sail is technically an exception, but there the star is providing the "exhaust".
