[PvK]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
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Time *appears* to slow down for the other object.
If a ship moves past a planet, who's to say the planet isn't moving past the ship instead. The time dilation works both ways. That's all I'm saying

Right, each has a different frame of reference, reciprocal, in some sense. What the limits of the relationship are though is the question.

We were already talking about FTL. The ability to magically accelerate past the speed of light was a given in this problem. Given that assumption, the rest is reasonable, eh?

Sure, because even the assumption isn't well defined, and there isn't really any complete understanding of what occurs. Only theory, at best.

I agree that the ship will appear in ten year's time. I also agree the whales will not be saved. I do NOT agree that the twinkie will be roughly one year older.
If the twinkie were travelling at a non-relativistic speed, it would age normally. If it were travelling at a very high sublight speed it would age less. If it were travelling at the speed of light, it would not age at all.
So, faster must make for younger.

That's where we disagree. However, I would say that it depends on both the theoretical physics postulated, and also the means by which you achieve FTL travel. I was assuming quantum mechanics and no Star Trek physics, and also that the Twinkie would be accelerated conventionally, not by some futuristic device that achieves motion without an accelerating force. Given my assumptions, I believe I'm right, that if you give something enough acceleration so that (if we ignore quantum effects for a moment), the Twinkie would be accelerated to ten times the speed of light, the effect from the Twinkie's frame of reference is exactly as if there were no limit of the speed of light, except that in addition to moving past the universe very quickly, the universe actually seems to be aging faster. That is, not only does the Twinkie not go back in time, it actually goes forward in time, like everything does. It arrives later than it would expect from it's own clock readings - IT is what is younger, not the universe.

That is, not only is Star Trek making up devices, and physics, it is loosely basing them on theory and getting it backwards.

I agree though that if you're talking about a "warp drive", then you can make up any side-effects you like.

PvK