Re: starship-design: ftl, gravity, etc.

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/17/00 6:14:18 PM, stevev@efn.org writes:

>Kyle R. Mcallister writes:
> > As far as I can see, there are two problems with finding FTL effects:
> > 
> > 1. We don't know where to start from
> > 2. Few want to accept that it might be possible
>
>The amount of research and thinking that has gone into trying to find
>FTL effects seems to me to belie the second point.  Lots of people,
>including some prominent physicists, would love to have FTL and spend a
>great deal of effort trying to find ways to do it.  However, there
>hasn't yet been any success in finding ways to achieve FTL travel either
>theoretically or experimentally.

I'ld have to disagree.  Physists freak out at the thought of FTL and posible 
impacts to causality logic.  One major physist (can't remember name) said 
time travel and FTL are often assumed to be impossible since their being 
possible would have implications that they absolutly refuse to beleave could 
exist.  I.E. I don't want it, so it can't be so.  The same thing slowed up 
acceptence of the possibility of Black holes.  The knowledge that logically 
black holes could distort time and space, rip apart mater to energy, etc, was 
seen as proof that something so bizar couldn't be real.


>I do think it's premature to say that FTL is impossible, but if it is
>possible it's clearly not easy.

Agreed.  There ae at best a few phenomina like quantum jumps and some 
tunneling experiments that show ftl, and some wild theories like Alberque 
warp fields that suggest ots possible; but thats a long way from a buildable 
device.

Kelly