will we ever travel faster than light?

[ixfd64]

Since this is a forum about light sources, I thought this would be a good question: will humanity ever find a way to travel faster than light?

Humans have an incredible desire to explore. Although we have sent probes to most of the planets, humans have only visited the Moon. However, there are an estimated 70 sextillion stars in the known universe, and we haven't even left our solar system. The universe is so incredibly vast, it would take light (which travels at almost 300,000 km/s) over four years just to reach our nearest star (other than the Sun). In order to explore other stars (or galaxies) within a reasonable timespan, we will need to travel faster than light.

However, Einstein's theory of relativity says that no matter or information can travel faster than the speed of light. As space travelers approach relativistic velocities, they will experience time dilation, which considerably shortens their trip. However, for the people on Earth, the trip will always take longer than it takes light to reach the destination (plus the time it takes the information to return).

The thing is, some "impossible" things have been proven possible before. For example, Lord Kelvin once stated, "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." More notably, Einstein himself stated that "there is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." However, less than a decade later, nuclear technology was already being developed.

However, quantum mechanics are far more complicated than aerodynamics or simple nuclear physics. Nevertheless, there are theoretical methods that allow faster-than-light travel, such as wormholes, the Alcubierre drive and the controversial Heim hyperdrive. However, there are many practical problems associated with these devices.

Back on topic, will we ever see interstellar travel packages, or will be confined in the solar system for many years?

[allthatwhichis]

This could have two answers; No, we will never travel faster than light (i.e. have our physical form accelerate to a speed higher than "c"), but Yes, we will be able to one day travel to a destination in less time than it takes light from our origination point to reach that destination...

[mixedgas]

This could have two answers; No, we will never travel faster than light (i.e. have our physical form accelerate to a speed higher than "c"), but Yes, we will be able to one day travel to a destination in less time than it takes light from our origination point to reach that destination...

Little bit of a paradox attached to this light travel thing. You cant go back to the point in time you left. You can only go forward. Even if you just left for 30 seconds round trip, nobody in your generation will be alive when you get back to hear your report. Gives a whole new spin to the term, "one way voyage"

Steve

[Astroguy]

The fabric of space itself can travel faster than light so if you move a bubble of space "Warp field?" with you in it away you go faster than light. The Enterprise does it every day.

[ixfd64]

Yep, that's the basis of the Alcubierre drive. Unfortunately, nobody in the real world has figured out how to create a "warp bubble" yet.

[zerowaitstate]

I think its inevitable, maybe not in our lifetime though.

Although there has been a massive change in technology and the rate of innovation in the last 100 years.

One never knows. I’m 39 now and i fully expect to live to 140. Comfortably and see Earth from Space. Commercially available quantum computing would be good too.

[buffo]

One caveat:

When people said the sound barrier could never be broken, they weren't scientists. Scientists knew that the "sound barrier" wasn't some feature of the universe, because there was ample evidence that things could travel faster than sound, and had been for a very long time. (The crack of a whip, or the boom of a thunderclap, for example, both result from things traveling faster than the speed of sound.) They just knew that they didn't yet understand enough about aeronautics to design a supersonic PLANE. (At least one that could hold together at that speed.)

Contrast that with what we know about the speed of light. There are no indicators that things in the universe have been moving faster than the speed of light. No "light boom" as it were, to suggest that it's possible. More to the point, there is a large body of theoretical physics that suggests it's not possible. And a great deal of that body of theoretical physics also happens to describe our world extremely well. So if FTL travel *is* possible, it's going to require an entirely new brand of physics.

Not saying that this is impossible, but it's *highly* unlikely, and nowhere near in the same league as the sound barrier was.

Adam

[Doc]

I think the answer to this problem is right under our noses, I don't know if it's the same in the US, but have you ever seen a woman at shoe sale?

[lasersbee]

I wouldn't be pondering about going faster than the speed of light...
We can't even get TO the speed of light... (yet)..

Jerry

[dream beamz]

topics like this make me think of the ultra deep field

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Ultra_Deep_Field