Re: Engineering Newsletter

[Kevin C Houston <hous0042@maroon.tc.umn.edu>]

On Wed, 3 Jan 1996, Timothy van der Linden wrote:

> On Sunday I was writing to Kevin:
> 
> >> >That reminds me of a great new travel method making use of Hiesenberg 
> >> >Uncertainty principle:  as Temperature approaches Abs Zero, Momentum 
> >> >becomes zero to the last decimal, and the position becomes _infinite_.  
> >> 
> >> It is not the position that becomes infinite but the PROBABILITY of its
> >> position that becomes infinite. May look the same, but is different. The
> >
> >Ah, yes, I see.  I knew that, but must have forgotten it.  so i guess it 
> >would work, you just would be able to steer.  Oh well.  Back to the 
> >drawing board.

What I _meant_ to say is that we would _not_ be able to steer.  The 
particle would disappear, but you would have no idea where it would appear.

> 
> No it wouldn't work, that was what I tried to explain in the next few lines:

> <tim's spelling challenged reply snipped> 

> So here is a new try:
> The fact that a particle can move lightyears in a flash is in conflict with
> the finite speed of light. So as long as you know the particle is there, it
> takes an infinite time to cool to absolute zero.

But, particles _can move faster than light, the tunneling effect is known 
to take exactly zero time to travel some finite distance, therefore speed 
of light is not the unbreakable limit we have been taught.  Of course, 
tunneling is a _very_ _very_ short range phenomenon.  now i suppose if 
you could controll the tunneling, so that all the atoms in the ship 
tunneled a few nanometers at the same time, and then immediatly did it 
again, you could in theory travel faster than the speed of light, since 
you wouldn't really be in this universe (kinda like hyperspace?)  but 
that begs the question, when an electron tunnels a barrier, where does it 
go between here and there?

> 
> >Sorry no, it's part of the great storehouse of knowledge that i have come 
> >across in almost fifteen years of reading every science magazine I can 
> >get my hands on.  i think this subject appeared in OMNI,  someone 
> >somewhere was claiming to have put a _lot_ of pressure on a small sample 
> >of hydrogen and gotten it to a metal state.
> 
> Every magazine, thats a lot or are you never in a bookstore?
> 
No, i said "that i can get my hands on" meaning there are many that I 
have never read (like OMNI after they started getting too paranormal)

> >Perhaps not a problem at all, earth based telescopes track distant stars 
> >all the time.  Being placed at a polar position would decrease the 
> >rotational velocity to be countered, and if the problem is 
> >insurmountable, then an orbiting waveguide can be used
> 
> I wonder if the telescopes do have the precision we need. What should I
> think of when you are talking about an orbiting waveguide?

Since mercury's rotation is on the order of it's orbital period, i think 
tracking would not be a problem.  Not really sure what orbit a waveguide 
would occupy

As for josepson junctions, i obviously don't know what I'm talking about, 
so i will shut up.

Kevin