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We can hope as i kinda like the prospect of the galaxy according to the StarTrek model
The Star Trek model was cute but in many ways we are already just as advanced as they were. Granted we don't have warp drive or large star ships, yet, but we do have Google glasses and computes with AI.
The Star Trek model was cute but in many ways we are already just as advanced as they were. Granted we don't have warp drive or large star ships, yet, but we do have Google glasses and computes with AI.
You made me think of an episode of Enterprise when they traveled back to the past for some reason, maybe the 40's, I'm not sure. Two of Captain Archer's crew were begged by some people in that time to leave something to prove that the spacemen were here. They left them some Velcro. I still laugh when I think about it. And, if I remember right, I think one of the crew, might have been Archer, also left something with one of the ladies there.
With the enormous costs involved in building a warp capable ship i'm wondering of what use it would be, flitting about the galaxy boldly going where no one has gone before may have a certain nostalgic appeal but in practicality is it really worth the cost involved?
It could conceivably be the only hope for the survival of our species. We breed like a virus; at some point, our explosively expanding population will consume so many of the available resources in our system, or render our world so uninhabitable, that we'll need a new planet to consume. Or, the sun will go nova, rendering our system uninhabitable. Either way, we'll need a viable way to get somewhere else. Warp propulsion may be the best option.
I personally until very recently, had not studied much about this theoretical warp technology. Primarily because of its highly speculative nature and it seems a thing for the very, VERY far future. Also previous estimates for energy requirements made it practically impossible.
However a recent study seems to have discovered, mathematically a potentially exponential reduction in the energy requirements and serious laboratory experimentation is being undertaken.
" early assessments published in the ensuing scientific literature suggested horrific amounts of energy — basically equal to the mass-energy of the planet Jupiter (what is 1.9 × 10[SIZE=2]27 kilograms or 317 Earth masses). As a result, the idea was brushed aside as being far too impractical. Even though nature allowed for a warp drive, it looked like we would never be able to build one ourselves..............................a new design that could significantly reduce the amount of exotic matter required. And in fact, White says that the warp drive could be powered by a mass that's even less than that of the Voyager 1 spacecraft. That's a significant change in calculations to say the least. The reduction in mass from a Jupiter-sized planet to an object that weighs a mere 1,600 pounds has completely reset White's sense of plausibility — and NASA's. "
It will be interesting to see what develops, and I am pleased that NASA is taking a serious look at using the Casimir Effect as a means to fuel future spacecraft. Anything that we want to send beyond our solar system will require it, since we cannot possibly carry that much fuel.
While 1,600 pounds is considerably less than a Jupiter mass, it is still far beyond our ability to produce. NASA estimates that it would cost $62,500,000,000,000.00 per gram of antihydrogen. Which means that 1,600 pounds of antimatter would cost $72,574,780,000,000,000,000,000.00. If we used 100% of the GDP from every nation on Earth (~$85 trillion), it would take more than 853,820,941 years to cover the cost.
So while it may seem more practical, it really is not.
A "Casimir Drive" seems to me to be the best approach, but even that is entirely theoretical. I think it offers the best opportunity to go beyond our solar system without having to worry about fuel.
It seems these physicists don't have a strong handle on quantum field theory. In QFT, any faster-than-light phenomenon (mainly tachyons) is always treated as an instability in the field and dismissed as corresponding to something nonphysical and just purely an artifact of the mathematics.
Granted I don't know much advanced GR, even if the Alcubierre metric is a valid solution to the Einstien Field Equations, all it does is describe the geometry and energy density of an already existing warp bubble. It doesn't tell you how to build one or how to distribute the required exotic matter, assuming it exists in the first place and you can collect meaningful amounts to use. Also, since the front of the bubble is causally disconnected from the interior, you'd need an FTL signal to turn it on in the first place.
Personally, I'm of the opinion that this thing is pure fantasy and will be ruled out in a future theory of quantum gravity. If it is possible, then it implies causality violations are possible and you end up with the grandfather paradox and all its variants as well with a universe that doesn't end up making much sense.
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