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Re: starship-design: Zero point energy: Power source
In a message dated 6/12/97 1:07:47 AM, you wrote:
>KellySt@aol.com writes:
> > I'm less convinced that FTL is impossible. How you could do it seems to
a
> > ton of duling techno/physics bable. (We all probably get the same books
on
> > the subject.) But physics changes frequently, and dramatically. So I
expect
> > this impossibility will fall in a generation or six.
>
>I think you put it best in your public response to Kyle when you said
>that FTL is probably a bit too speculative for 2050 technology, and
>certainly too speculative given our current knowledge of physics.
Definatly.
>A revolution in physics that makes FTL possible will change a lot of
>other things too. It's just not as easy as saying "yes, you really can
>make something go FTL"; you have to reconcile the FTL effects with a lot
>of other things. I know, and most physicists admit, that the "causal
>ordering principle" is just an assumption, not a proven law of nature,
>but there are also no known violations of it, making it a pretty safe
>assumption.
Conservation of mass was an equally universally true and fundamental
assumption until a couple of decades ago.
> > On the other hand if we can't do FTL I'm very sure we won't do much
> > interstellar travel. The time delay simply makes it unsupportable,
> > unproductive, and uninteresting. People couldn't colonize, exploration
would
> > be to slow, who'ld pay for wandering ships they'ld never see return
anything.
> > We'ld probably just build bigger and bigger scopes and study the stars
that
> > way.
>
>Sublight interstellar travel will really require a different cultural
>mindset than we currently apply to exploration. It will certainly
>require an outlook more oriented towards pure exploration rather than on
>short-term return.
More then that. The rediculasly poor return on such projects. I.E. it could
be decades to centuries to get back any info. Puts them in an uncomfortable
catch-22. If you really want the info, your not going to be that patient.
If your not in that much of a hurry. Why not wait a couple more deacades
(or centuries) for the launches?
Kelly