If you were to build an ftl drive what would it look like

nyarlothothep

Nasa decides to build an ftl drive. What would the appearance of it be? What components would it use? I'm not asking for highly detailed specifications, just the basic parts and what shape they would take on if they were used on a ship.

Professor_Fink

Well, we don't currently believe it is possible to travel faster than light. I assume this is for science fiction? If so, I think wormholes are probably the most plausable mechanism, since you are essentially just shortening the distance between two points. That said, there is no known physics which can produce these if they do not already exist.

Michaelrsh

nyarlothothep wrote: »

Nasa decides to build an ftl drive. What would the appearance of it be? What components would it use? I'm not asking for highly detailed specifications, just the basic parts and what shape they would take on if they were used on a ship.

This is not the science fiction forum, this is the physics and chemistry forum. To utter science fiction in a science forum, such as this, should be considered as comparable with blasphemy!

To go faster than life (within a vaccum, i.e., space) is science fiction as it is it theoretically impossible (this is what Einstein said anyway). Therefore the creation of a 'ftl drive' will never happen. Please refer to Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek to get an idea of what this impossible ftl drive might look like.

Michaelrsh

Professor_Fink wrote: »

Well, we don't currently believe it is possible to travel faster than light. I assume this is for science fiction? If so, I think wormholes are probably the most plausable mechanism, since you are essentially just shortening the distance between two points. That said, there is no known physics which can produce these if they do not already exist.

Can't particles, or at least waves, travel faster than the speed of light in a medium that is not a vaccum?

Professor_Fink

Michaelrsh wrote: »

Can't particles, or at least waves, travel faster than the speed of light in a medium that is not a vaccum?

Yes. I assumed by FTL he meant >3*10^8 m/s.

nyarlothothep

Meh, to be honest its not "blasphemy" to engage in speculation. What about an alcubierre warp drive? This is what I'm thinking about, what form would it take? I'd like to get a scientific perspective on what the construction aspects of it might be, it will be dependent on "magic" I guess, since we can't utilize the energy of galaxies yet etc but what Im concerned with are the components, what they would do and the form they would take in order for them to work.

Michaelrsh

nyarlothothep wrote: »

Meh, to be honest its not "blasphemy" to engage in speculation. What about an alcubierre warp drive? This is what I'm thinking about, what form would it take? I'd like to get a scientific perspective on what the construction aspects of it might be, it will be dependent on "magic" I guess, since we can't utilize the energy of galaxies yet etc but what Im concerned with are the components, what they would do and the form they would take in order for them to work.

Please refer to Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek.

nyarlothothep

Michaelrsh wrote: »

Please refer to Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek.

:rolleyes:

Podge_irl

nyarlothothep wrote: »

Meh, to be honest its not "blasphemy" to engage in speculation. What about an alcubierre warp drive? This is what I'm thinking about, what form would it take? I'd like to get a scientific perspective on what the construction aspects of it might be, it will be dependent on "magic" I guess, since we can't utilize the energy of galaxies yet etc but what Im concerned with are the components, what they would do and the form they would take in order for them to work.

I have no idea what an "albubierre warp drive" is but the only scientific perspective you're going to get here is that its not possible as far as we know therefore we can't speculate on what such a device would be like.

ZorbaTehZ

nyarlothothep

ZorbaTehZ wrote: »

thats time travel. This is what I mean by an alcubierre drive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive

nyarlothothep

I wouldn't mind a car like that, its funky.

Michaelrsh

nyarlothothep wrote: »

I wouldn't mind a car like that, its funky.

Apparently it can fly too. Now that's true science fiction.

del88

Here's a rough sketch of what i have in mind to power this thing.

nyarlothothep

Can we not have a serious speculative discussion? Please???

Capt'n Midnight

if the drive was FTL then it would not interact with photons and so you could never see it, what then would it look like