OT: Handwavium-low methods of FTL travel?

narf poit chez BOOM · #1 July 15th, 2006, 09:24 PM

So I'm puttering around, coming up with low-tech space stuff for no particular reason, when I started thinking about FTL travel. Well, naturally, the ones I could think of (Warp space, wormholes, making the speed of light higher, newtonian space, hyperspace) are all 'handwavium-heavy'.

What I'm wondering is are there any that are 'handwavium-light'?

Ed Kolis · #2 July 15th, 2006, 11:10 PM

If even wormholes are "handwavium-heavy" I don't know what you'd consider acceptable...

Jack Simth · #3 July 15th, 2006, 11:24 PM

Well, according to physicists, last I checked, if you had enough recources to throw at the project, and some way to make and store negative energy, you could make a wormhole from one point to another. It's just insane.

You need:
Two rings the size of Pluto's orbit (must be made of very tough stuff).
Negative energy roughly equivalent to twice the mass of jupiter.
Some way to spin those rings up to nearly the speed of light.
A way to get one of the rings to your destination.

Proceedure:
Charge each ring with negative energy roughly equivalent to the mass of jupiter.
Spin each ring up to nearly the speed of light (this is where the tuff stuff comes in handy).
Synchronize them - exactly - same shape, same size, same amount of negative energy, same spin, et cetera.

What you get, is a wormhole, approximately one meter in diameter, going from the center of one ring to the center of the other.

Yeah, um... I don't think I'll see that in my lifetime....

Renegade 13 · #4 July 16th, 2006, 03:12 AM

Though I heartily wish there was a theoretically practical form of FTL travel, I can't think of any off-hand.

But remember, humanity's knowledge of physics has grown tremendously in the past century...who knows what advances and new ideas will come in the future. Perhaps physicists will uncover a method of feasible FTL travel; it's entirely possible.

Cipher7071 · #5 July 16th, 2006, 04:01 PM

I've heard a theory that says a black hole may actually be an opening into a different (perhaps separate) part of the universe. If that's true, all we need to figure out is how to keep from being crushed out of existence during the passage.

Renegade 13 · #6 July 16th, 2006, 06:00 PM

Not to mention the time effects.

narf poit chez BOOM · #7 July 17th, 2006, 05:56 AM

One idea - I've heard that gravity is FTL - I'm not sure if that's been tested. But if we handwave the ability to manipulate gravity, could that accelarate something faster than the speed of light? (Since mass has *no effect on acceleration by gravity?)

* That I know of.

Renegade 13 · #8 July 17th, 2006, 06:26 AM

I think gravity is thought to be instantaneously propagating, but I don't think its been proven yet.

Suicide Junkie · #9 July 17th, 2006, 08:27 AM

Of course not. It takes an infinite amount of energy to make a massy object go arbitrarily close to the speed of light.

If you can manipulate gravity with arbitrary energy levels, though, wormholes and space warps are quite possible.

Renegade 13 · #10 July 17th, 2006, 02:36 PM

One possibility for FTL travel is other dimensions. Many theories of quantum physics predict several other dimensions, besides the 4 we know and interact with every day. If it would be possible to use those other dimensions for travel, it could be possible that distances are closer in those dimensions than in our familiar three, which doesn't actually break the light speed barrier in that dimension, but has the effect of seemingly breaking the light speed barrier in our own dimensions.