Thursday, April 30, 2015
NASA Accidentally Discover Warp Drive?
Did NASA Just Accidentally Produce A
Warp Bubble? EmDrive Could Lead To Warp Drive
NASA scientists working on a project called EmDrive have accidentally
stumbled upon something that will send science fiction junkies into a frenzy.
The possibility of a real-life warp drive has been placed on the table thanks
to readings that indicate the EmDrive’s resonance chamber sent beams traveling
faster than the speed of light, which would be considered warp speed.
Researchers have considered the possibility of traveling faster than the speed
of light, but until the recent NASA study, the feat had never been achieved.
Mysterious Universe notes
that the NASA scientists are buzzing about the discovery on the NASA Spaceflight Forums. The
forums are a place for information regarding the engineering aspects of the
space flight and NASA. Therefore, the discovery that laser beams may have just
breached the speed of light sent the page into discussions on the long-term
implications of warp speed bubbles and the possibly of future warp speed
travel.
First, the researchers note that though beams that
were shot into the EmDrive were recorded at speeds faster than light, there is
still one more study that must be performed to determine with certainty that
the light speed barrier was broken. Scientists note that the beams must be shot
through the EmDrive in a vacuum environment. This will ensure that the effect
was not a result of atmospheric heating.
“I don’t think we can call this length contraction
(even though it might look like it) for sure until the same results are in
repeated in vacuum.”
Commenters note that the whole finding was one big
accident and that researchers did not even realize that the EmDrive was
replicating a well-known physicist’s theory of warp bubbles.
“That’s the big surprise. This signature (the
interference pattern) on the EmDrive looks just like what a warp bubble looks
like. And the math behind the warp bubble apparently matches the interference
pattern found in the EmDrive. Seems to have been an accidental connection. They
were wondering where this ‘thrust’ might be coming from. One scientists proposed
that maybe it’s a warp of the spacetime foam, which is causing the thrust.”
Physicist Miguel Alcubierre is the one who came up
with the concept of a warp bubble that would warp spacetime around an object.
The idea is that a warp bubble could be created in which a stationary spaceship
was placed inside. The bubble in front of the ship would contract spacetime
while the spacetime expands behind it. However, the idea was never proven as
feasible until the recent EmDrive finding.
Some on the NASA Spacelight forums are looking to the
possibility of time travel should the warp speed be achieved in the vacuum
setting. They note that the space travelers would not be crushed by the intense
speeds because Alcubierre’s model would place the ship in a stationary position.
“Don’t forget that the ship is not really moving at
relativistic speeds: space is. Consequently, you could take a trip to Alpha
Centauri in 2 days (or less with more power… who knows?), turn your ship around
and observe the Earth as it was four years ago (as light has taken four years
to get there – slow coach!). You could then observe Alpha Centauri as it is
“now”, and how people on the Earth will see it in four years. With this type of
technology, it would be possible to predict when locally past events are going
to be observable from the point of view of the Earth (or any other point that
the light from such events had not yet reached). For example, a ship 1
light-day out from the Earth in the right place could witness a supernova
before the Earth does and then be able to return to the Earth almost instantly
and tell astronomers about the incoming light wave so that they could prepare
to observe it.”
How is that for a mind trip of the day? Could we be traveling across the universe at warp speeds in
the near future thanks to a NASA accident?
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