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Finally... => General Discussion => Topic started by: inteuniso on November 28, 2012, 03:56:03 am

Title: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: inteuniso on November 28, 2012, 03:56:03 am
So yeah. (http://io9.com/5963263/how-nasa-will-build-its-very-first-warp-drive?utm_source=io9.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation&post=54594565)

I am reading the abstract behind the Alcubierre Drive here, (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110015936_2011016932.pdf) and the mathematical model looks legitimate? Has anyone else heard about this?

TL;DR NASA thought up Warp Drive which needs less mass-fuel than the mass of a small car.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Xantalos on November 28, 2012, 04:17:15 am
Huh.
YEEEEEEEESSSSS
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: kaijyuu on November 28, 2012, 04:25:21 am
As I recall, this still requires some exotic matter. Also someone will need to explain to me how they plan to accomplish the expansion of space-time; contraction is easy comparatively.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Nightscar982 on November 28, 2012, 06:05:16 am
I didn't read the entirety of the second link, but would anyone hazard a guess if the Alcubierre Drive would work in atmosphere, and the Drive's effects on solid matter?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Neonivek on November 28, 2012, 06:22:16 am
I didn't read the entirety of the second link, but would anyone hazard a guess if the Alcubierre Drive would work in atmosphere, and the Drive's effects on solid matter?

All I know is that according to science that "Warp Drives" are incredibly destructive.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Cthulhu on November 28, 2012, 06:40:56 am
By "science" you mean "cracked" right?

This is gonna be sweet until the first ship comes back full of demons.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: werty892 on November 28, 2012, 06:42:38 am
If it works, fuck yeah. If it fails, we will go back to putting cargo on basically massive bombs to get it around...
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: ChairmanPoo on November 28, 2012, 06:47:47 am
By "science" you mean "cracked" right?

This is gonna be sweet until the first ship comes back full of demons.
Dont worry. Where we are going we wont need eyes to see
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Darvi on November 28, 2012, 06:49:06 am
Daemons aren't gonna eat your eyes. I mean, they're not unreasonable.

However I'd like very much to take a peek into the warp. Just, ya well, to see what it looks like.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Facekillz058 on November 28, 2012, 06:49:32 am
I'm going to laugh when we watch the video of their space craft and all the people inside explode.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Jimmy on November 28, 2012, 06:51:30 am
Frankly the fact it's so potentially destructive means it probably has serious money. There's no shortage of people willing to invest in new ways of transporting highly explosive things to places very quickly.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Jelle on November 28, 2012, 06:53:50 am
Am I the only one who thinks this is a load of bullcrap? I don't know, maybe I should read up on this stuff, but the whole spacetime bending always sounded like nerdy fantasy to me.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: sneakey pete on November 28, 2012, 06:58:27 am
Will all be for naught if we don't find a way of getting into space more easily
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Cthulhu on November 28, 2012, 06:58:35 am
Well yeah, we're designed to understand moderately large objects moving at low speeds.  All of this relativity and quantum bullshit doesn't make any sense to us but apparently the math is there.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Jelle on November 28, 2012, 07:00:44 am
Math's just a language, one that allows models that don't neceseraly reflect reality. It's physics you need. I'm mostly curious as to how these scientists are doing their measurements rather then their theorizing.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Jimmy on November 28, 2012, 07:00:45 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive)

Interesting reading, for sure.

Of course, we're still waiting on the exotic matter with a negative mass to make it reality. I heard they sold out on Black Friday.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 28, 2012, 07:06:43 am
Math's just a language, one that allows models that don't neceseraly reflect reality. It's physics you need. I'm mostly curious as to how these scientists are doing their measurements rather then their theorizing.
For now, they didn't. This entire idea is completely theoretical. So either the warp drive works, or our understanding of physics is wrong (again).

They're currently working on very small scale lab tests. (with lasers and stuff)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 28, 2012, 09:35:48 am
Regardless, this is worth looking into even if we don't get results for a long time. FTL is the technological holy grail and we'll never have an interstellar civilization without it.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on November 28, 2012, 10:23:39 am
From my understanding (for which I haven't yet perused OP's linked article, so may be off from the current expectations) Warp Drive wouldn't be too brilliant for getting off planet, or even generally through an atmosphere, but it might well aid actual space travel and (taken to a high-enough art) either mitigate relativistic effects (when they start to be inconvenient) or even 'cheat' the universe into giving us FTL, pretty much as that old Wagon Train In Space series had us believe it might...  But with practicality at the lower levels, even, still being theoretical and that old exotic matter problem (as already mentioned) may be the sticking point.

Hmmm... I wonder if we do get Warp Drive devices zipping around in Earth orbit (and even out into the solar system), whether their passage could be detected by LIGO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIGO), or similar?  I suppose it depends on what ripple effects 'leak' from the drive's sphere (or 'lozenge') of influence...  But that effective energy dispersion would mean inefficiencies, to my mind, so perhaps sewing it up tight (at the boundaries of the required effect) ought to be the aim of whatever mystical warp technology they'd be employing.

(Or....  there's also the possibility of existing 'gravity gradients' across compressed/expanded space giving a localised effect on the gradient beyond the travelling device, detectable as a difference from the unperturbed 'background' gravity, at least within a short enough distance on the opposite side of the hypothetical spacecraft to be effectively within the 'umbra' of the gravity-effect 'shadow' concerned...  Hmmm....)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 28, 2012, 10:27:24 am
I find it fascinating that, according to wikipedia, Star Trek 's warp drive predates the alcubiere drive, and in fact directly inspired it.

Quote
The Alcubierre theory, or anything similar, did not exist when the series was conceived, but Alcubierre stated in an email to William Shatner that his theory was directly inspired by the term used in the show,[17] and references it in his 1994 paper

It's highly unlikely that the drive can be used in athmosphere, as the exotic matter bubble would collapse due to friction.
Also, Hawking radiation at FTL speeds might fry the entire thing
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedWarrior0 on November 28, 2012, 10:52:41 am
Still, it would be sweet.

PTW, by the way
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Twiggie on November 28, 2012, 11:01:17 am
Linky (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110015936_2011016932.pdf)

this seems really cool, would be nice if i actually had the time to read through that link. im sure someone can summarise for me :)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Neonivek on November 28, 2012, 11:23:53 am
By "science" you mean "cracked" right?

This is gonna be sweet until the first ship comes back full of demons.

I wish Cracked was more accurate... I stopped reading it a while ago after I noticed how far its credibility was stretched in my head.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MagmaMcFry on November 28, 2012, 11:26:31 am
PTW
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 28, 2012, 11:40:58 am
It's highly unlikely that the drive can be used in athmosphere, as the exotic matter bubble would collapse due to friction.
Also, Hawking radiation at FTL speeds might fry the entire thing

Not to mention "severe tidal forces" at the edge of the bubble. Basically, anything caught along the edges of the warp bubble would be literally stretched out or compressed along with space itself. I'm guessing that the faster the bubble's travelling, the more severe the "tilt" of the field, and the more severe the tidal force. In atmosphere, I'm thinking this would do bad things (like turning air along the compression edge of the bubble into compressed plasma, and along the expansion edge of the bubble into supercooled liquid). Plus, if this operates as I think it does, it would do this while boring a tunnel through the atmosphere in the direction of travel. So yeah....not good.

In space, not so big a deal. Although I'm wondering if you'd want to be out of orbit first....not sure what mucking about with the fabric of space-time at this scale would do to planetary gravity and magnetic fields.

I'm wondering too if you'd have the classic problem of "you need a clear lane between you and your destination". Thinking it through, any debris in your path would be compressed (and superheated) before entering the warp bubble. So a stray chunk of rock would be turned into a spurt of plasma, then ejected into the warp bubble around your ship. Problematic. Anything ejected out the back of the bubble would be supercooled and stretched out like the event horizon of a black hole. In theory, exiting the bubble directly perpendicular to the axis of travel and center of the field would be safe, although the truly safe "exit point" would be a mathematical singularity. Anything larger than that is going to have some tidal forces. With a large enough bubble (and/or slow enough travel), the effects would be minor. With a small bubble going really fast, you could step out to the right and find your left arm melted and your right arm turned into a mile-long thread of frozen goo.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: TheBronzePickle on November 28, 2012, 11:49:02 am
Presumably, as long as nothing 'fell out' of the bubble prematurely, anything you passed by would be left roughly the same as it began, since the compression and dilation would (or at least are supposed to) cancel each other out.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Descan on November 28, 2012, 12:23:06 pm
I dunno about you peeps, but I'm excited to see the results. :3 Which ever way they turn.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MagmaMcFry on November 28, 2012, 12:27:48 pm
Presumably, as long as nothing 'fell out' of the bubble prematurely, anything you passed by would be left roughly the same as it began, since the compression and dilation would (or at least are supposed to) cancel each other out.
Well, the passing stuff would still spend some time inside the bubble as superheated plasma, which may or may not have severe effects on its chemical and/or physical structure. Also, what happens if something only passes through the bubble with one side?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 28, 2012, 12:35:55 pm
I think that's correct, given the wireframe models of the bubble. Anything not directly in the path of the bubble would be unaffected. However, I'm not so sure about things that get swept up in the bubble then ejected. They might be the same size, but things would go through a state change like this:

Tidal shock (rapid compression while entering through the picometer-thick leading edge)
Stable equilibrium (inside the bubble)
Tidal shock (rapid expansion while exiting through the trailing edge)

In the same way that flash-heating something to 200 degrees, then flash-cooling it by 200 degrees != no effect, I'm thinking that this process would be extremely violent and traumatic to any kind of matter that passes through the bubble, including atmospheric molecules. You *might* be able to use this in atmosphere at very low coefficients of speed, with the result that you'd just have air entering the bubble rather hot and then exiting out the back and cooling back down rapidly as it does so. Given that you'd have some natural cooling (and thermal transfer to the ship) while in the bubble, things should exit the bubble slightly cooler than they went in. Still could be dangerous in atmosphere to things/people nearby, just from the shockwave created. I'd think it would make one hell of a racket, too -- like a continuous thunderclap.

I can see now why some theories hold that at high energy levels, the leading edge of the bubble could create a naked singularity -- the compression would be ridiculous. Unfortunately, the compression would make it more likely to encounter debris...unless you had a true singularity in which case it might work because it would literally implode all matter in your path into the singularity before it could enter the bubble.

That would be a hell of a thing -- a superluminal freight train with a pocket black hole for a cowcatcher. Woe unto anything in its path.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 28, 2012, 12:37:18 pm
It isn't like we really need to use an FTL drive in atmosphere in the first place.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: ChairmanPoo on November 28, 2012, 12:54:00 pm
By "science" you mean "cracked" right?

This is gonna be sweet until the first ship comes back full of demons.

I wish Cracked was more accurate... I stopped reading it a while ago after I noticed how far its credibility was stretched in my head.

Cracked is inaccurate in its facts. Also, often has an agenda when they raise certain issues. Still, it's worth a visit as a time-killer once you've exahusted the webcomics of the day

Daemons aren't gonna eat your eyes. I mean, they're not unreasonable.

However I'd like very much to take a peek into the warp. Just, ya well, to see what it looks like.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Darvi on November 28, 2012, 12:54:53 pm
Daemons aren't gonna eat your eyes. I mean, they're not unreasonable.

However I'd like very much to take a peek into the warp. Just, ya well, to see what it looks like.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
TOTALLY WORTH IT.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 28, 2012, 01:03:08 pm
The demons better hope our FTL doesn't take us to them. You don't want to play the extermination game with humanity, oh no.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: warhammer651 on November 28, 2012, 01:11:46 pm
The demons better hope our FTL doesn't take us to them. You don't want to play the extermination game with humanity, oh no.

If it does take us to them, will I be able to drive a tank into battle against the legions of hell?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on November 28, 2012, 01:17:12 pm
Yes you will, Timmy. Yes you will.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on November 28, 2012, 01:37:55 pm
I'm sorry, Timmy, there's no more budget for tanks.  Here's a baseball bat.

(I'm sorry, demons, there's no more budget for tanks.  We're giving Timmy a baseball bat.  You may find what happens next now slightly more painful that it could have been, even though it isn't even your fault that the children of humanity have been let loose on the Legions Of The Damned.  What can I say?  You were in the wrong meta-dimension at the wrong meta-time...  If it had been up to me, I'd have sent in my friends' 10-year-old with a sniper-rifle to do the job cleanly and efficiently, but he's too busy fighting recalcitrant Covenant factions, whatever Flood remain, Forerunners and any other humans and fellow Spartans who get in his way.)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Zrk2 on November 28, 2012, 02:23:10 pm
The demons better hope our FTL doesn't take us to them. You don't want to play the extermination game with humanity, oh no.

Unless you're better at it then us. While humans are extremely hard to kill, we're also extraordinarily fragile.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 28, 2012, 02:39:16 pm
Do you think the demons are there, telling stories about the humans committing severe acts of depravity, destruction and horror, whilst they go around in a cultured, peaceful hellish landscape?

"By Qliphoth! I read that they...they...JOKE about breeding mermaids in captivity to harvest for their skin and bones."
"Monsters...."
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: kilakan on November 28, 2012, 02:44:49 pm
Mostly posting to watch this and to say...  I don't care how destructive it is, this would be an incredible milestone for science and technology.  I can never believe the amount we move forward every decade..
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on November 28, 2012, 02:51:21 pm
So if this works out they way in which most references point (Event Horzion, bitches) we're going to need Lawrence Fishburne to fight random white people in space... AGAIN.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Flying Dice on November 28, 2012, 03:17:42 pm
"Fly me closer, I want to hit them with my bubble of distorted space-time!" works for me.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Luke_Prowler on November 28, 2012, 04:55:39 pm
Takes "Ramming Speed" to a whole new level.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Lightningfalcon on November 28, 2012, 04:57:04 pm
Does this mean that when I graduate from college and get a job at DARPA that I will have a valid reason for project Space Marine?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on November 28, 2012, 05:01:53 pm
As I recall, this still requires some exotic matter. Also someone will need to explain to me how they plan to accomplish the expansion of space-time; contraction is easy comparatively.
Well, under some circumstances the Casimir effect could do that, IIRC, but then you're looking at a nanometer-scale device.


Edit: the Scharnhorst effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scharnhorst_effect), which is a consequence of the Casimir effect, could increase the speed of light. If I'm not mistaken, the geometry of space is tied to the speed of light, so in a sense the Scharnhorst effect changes the geometry of space. Don't ask me if you can generate an Alcubierre drive in this way though.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 28, 2012, 05:05:50 pm
"Fly me closer, I want to hit them with my bubble of distorted space-time!" works for me.
Yeah, I was thinking that firing a host of drones with small Alcubierre drives on them would make a great weapon. Have them go superluminal close to the enemy hull (or enemy planet) and watch the fireworks. Sure, the drone will get cooked in a sea of plasma shortly thereafter, but if that plasma was formerly the hull of the ship (and some of its innhabitants), then mission accomplished.

Or in the case of planets, see how far it can penetrate into the atmosphere before failing, leaving behind a downward pressure wave of expanding plasma. Not to mention if the drive stops suddenly, you're going to have a shockwave created by that compression front suddenly not being compressed. Only, it's not just an atmospheric pressure wave, it's a spacetime pressure wave. Not even sure what the fuck that would do, but I'm assuming it would be bad for the target.

This is assuming that the drives become relatively simple and cost-effective to manufacture, of course.

Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Jerick on November 28, 2012, 05:24:00 pm
"Fly me closer, I want to hit them with my bubble of distorted space-time!" works for me.
Yeah, I was thinking that firing a host of drones with small Alcubierre drives on them would make a great weapon. Have them go superluminal close to the enemy hull (or enemy planet) and watch the fireworks. Sure, the drone will get cooked in a sea of plasma shortly thereafter, but if that plasma was formerly the hull of the ship (and some of its innhabitants), then mission accomplished.

Or in the case of planets, see how far it can penetrate into the atmosphere before failing, leaving behind a downward pressure wave of expanding plasma. Not to mention if the drive stops suddenly, you're going to have a shockwave created by that compression front suddenly not being compressed. Only, it's not just an atmospheric pressure wave, it's a spacetime pressure wave. Not even sure what the fuck that would do, but I'm assuming it would be bad for the target.

This is assuming that the drives become relatively simple and cost-effective to manufacture, of course.
Hrrm Alcubierre missiles.
Wait what happens when one Alcubierre drive acts on a region of space being acted on by another drive?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Graknorke on November 28, 2012, 05:29:38 pm
I see the words but sense isn't falling out. I think I've been awake too long.
"Fancy theoretical science yay", is the sort of reaction I would probably be having if I weren't too tired to make the slightest bit of sense out of this.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: OREOSOME on November 28, 2012, 05:33:32 pm
If this works, the whole idea of Colonizing other planets not being possible will just be thrown out the window. I mean, If we can get to Say... Kepler in the next 5 years or so it would be The Defining moment of mankind right there.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Vorthon on November 28, 2012, 05:36:24 pm
Auugh don't have time to re-open that link, but didn't it say that a ship equipped with a working Alcubierre Drive would take something like 2 weeks to reach Alpha Centauri?

Got me thinking: It'd be like the Age of Sail, but in SPEHSS and with less disease. Which would be awesome.

If this works, the whole idea of Colonizing other planets not being possible will just be thrown out the window. I mean, If we can get to Say... Kepler in the next 5 years or so it would be The Defining moment of mankind right there.

Those Kepler stars are hundreds of light years away. That'd take a while, even with FTL.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Levi on November 28, 2012, 05:45:04 pm
Got me thinking: It'd be like the Age of Sail, but in SPEHSS and with less disease. Which would be awesome.

I dunno man.  For all we know warp bubbles give you space cancers.

Whenever I hear about FTL I remember this one dream I had where it turned out souls do exist and they can't travel faster than light.  So when the first astronauts went on FTL journeys, they were eventually haunted and killed by these evil lost souls that were ripped out of their bodies. 

It was a pretty sweet dream. 
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Flying Dice on November 28, 2012, 06:16:57 pm
"Fly me closer, I want to hit them with my bubble of distorted space-time!" works for me.
Yeah, I was thinking that firing a host of drones with small Alcubierre drives on them would make a great weapon. Have them go superluminal close to the enemy hull (or enemy planet) and watch the fireworks. Sure, the drone will get cooked in a sea of plasma shortly thereafter, but if that plasma was formerly the hull of the ship (and some of its innhabitants), then mission accomplished.

Or in the case of planets, see how far it can penetrate into the atmosphere before failing, leaving behind a downward pressure wave of expanding plasma. Not to mention if the drive stops suddenly, you're going to have a shockwave created by that compression front suddenly not being compressed. Only, it's not just an atmospheric pressure wave, it's a spacetime pressure wave. Not even sure what the fuck that would do, but I'm assuming it would be bad for the target.

This is assuming that the drives become relatively simple and cost-effective to manufacture, of course.
Hrrm Alcubierre missiles.
Wait what happens when one Alcubierre drive acts on a region of space being acted on by another drive?

In technical terms, things get fucked up.

In practical terms, I imagine that both failsafes and diplomatic agreements for drives would be pretty damned tight if these ever came into common use.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: werty892 on November 28, 2012, 08:58:17 pm
If this works, the whole idea of Colonizing other planets not being possible will just be thrown out the window. I mean, If we can get to Say... Kepler in the next 5 years or so it would be The Defining moment of mankind right there.

Or we can make the bay 12 space program a reality... decisions, decisions.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Euld on November 28, 2012, 09:14:49 pm
I just hope our corner of the galaxy doesn't have warlike space faring aliens that will want to pwn young civilizations like ours.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Duke 2.0 on November 28, 2012, 09:20:47 pm
 Scientists have been thinking about this concept for decades. From what I can tell this is just math showing how such manipulations would have to work to cause thrust. No word yet on how one messes with spacetime with such accuracy from within the bubble. Lasers?

 It's like a scientist nailing the voltage needed to make a hovercar work. Now they just need to perfect the antigravity drive.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Rose on November 28, 2012, 09:22:16 pm
So.

When's this experiment they're doing gonna be finished?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: ChairmanPoo on November 28, 2012, 09:36:36 pm
And suddenly nobody cares about the one way tickrt to Mars anymore
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Vorthon on November 28, 2012, 09:38:26 pm
Screw that, I want a two-way ticket to Alpha Centauri. :P
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Euld on November 28, 2012, 09:39:13 pm
Very true XD  Now suddenly you can visit Mars on the weekends.  Or work on Mars during the weekday then warp home to Earth for the weekends.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Skyrunner on November 28, 2012, 10:38:19 pm
The Alcubierre drives would be really awesome if they work feasibly.
If we can even have a glimpse at alien lifeforms, that would be so meaningful for biology. O_o
But the Alcubierre drive sounds like a gigantic hammer, and when you've got a hammer... It could wreck Earth if some terrorists get hold of a big one and slowly sizzle Earth's atmospere.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 28, 2012, 10:39:40 pm
Wouldn't work. It would destroy itself rapidly if activated in atmosphere.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Flying Dice on November 28, 2012, 10:45:05 pm
Screw that, I want a two-way ticket to Alpha Centauri. :P
Thanks, but I think I'll be staying away from the system with the dormant sentient planet.  :P
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Vorthon on November 28, 2012, 10:47:56 pm
It's either that, or being crammed in a ship for over a month to get to Tau Ceti.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on November 29, 2012, 05:58:35 am
Screw that, I want a two-way ticket to Alpha Centauri. :P
I think a threeway on Alpha Centauri might be nice as well.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 29, 2012, 11:09:21 am
Wouldn't work. It would destroy itself rapidly if activated in atmosphere.
Yeah, the idea of using a warp drive as weapon has several flaws.

First of all, the negative energy matter field creating the warp would fall apart due to interaction with anything substantial. So anything more than a few atoms.

Secondly, destroying something with a warp field relies on heating them up rapidly and spewing it back out in a broken state. What appears to be ignored is that the storm of hot plasma is going to travel through the bubble. (Ie, onto the ship).

THird, the warp drives use the mass energy equivalent of a small sattelite. You can blow up a lot of things with that amount of energy.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 29, 2012, 11:33:55 am
Wouldn't work. It would destroy itself rapidly if activated in atmosphere.
Yeah, the idea of using a warp drive as weapon has several flaws.

First of all, the negative energy matter field creating the warp would fall apart due to interaction with anything substantial. So anything more than a few atoms.

Secondly, destroying something with a warp field relies on heating them up rapidly and spewing it back out in a broken state. What appears to be ignored is that the storm of hot plasma is going to travel through the bubble. (Ie, onto the ship).

THird, the warp drives use the mass energy equivalent of a small sattelite. You can blow up a lot of things with that amount of energy.

#1 might be a problem.
#2 not so much a problem if the drive is fitted on a drone or missile.
#3 may be irrelevant depending on the situation. For the energy expended to get a convention cruise missile on target, you could do considerably more damage by just using that same energy to make dynamite. What you're "paying" for is the ability to get that payload on target from hundreds of miles away with little warning, as opposed to driving truckloads of dynamite.

Relativistic kamikaze warp drones might be a more battlefield-effective use of that energy than building a super beam gun or mass driver.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: PTTG?? on November 29, 2012, 11:37:26 am
So.

When's this experiment they're doing gonna be finished?

THIS ISN'T REAL.

THIS IS A HYPOTHESIS
THIS IS A WORTHLESS TRASH FLUFF ARTICLE THAT'S BEEN CIRCULATED FOR MONTHS NOW
NASA DOES NOT HAVE A WARP DRIVE
THEY WROTE AN ARTICLE SAYING IT WOULD TAKE MORE ENERGY THAN HUMANKIND HAS EVER PRODUCED
AND THAT IT WOULD NEED NOTHING MORE OR LESS THAN BLACK MAGIC, IN THE FORM OF "EXOTIC MATTER", WHICH IS EITHER NON-EXISTENT OR MORE DIFFICULT TO MAKE THAN ANTIMATTER, TO PRODUCE THE WARP FIELD

AAAAARGAGAHAHAGARHHHAAAA!

THIS IS NOT REAL SCIENCE
IT IS NOT AN EXPERIMENT
IT IS ONE STUPID SCIENTIST WRITING AN OVER-OPTIMISTIC PAPER AND A PUBLICITY AGENT OPENING FLOODGATES OF BILE OVER THE REAL SCIENTIFIC WORK OF NASA

SO STOP FANTASIZING ABOUT RAPING YOUR WAY ACROSS THE STARS IN YOUR FANCY YELLOW PAJAMAS

AND START CARING ABOUT THE NUCLEAR-POWERED ROBOTIC SUV WE ACTUALLY PUT ON AN ACTUAL PLANET AND ARE ACTUALLY DOING ACTUAL SCIENCE ABOUT.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 29, 2012, 11:39:16 am
Somebody obviously woke up on the wrong side of the warp bubble this morning.  :P
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: PTTG?? on November 29, 2012, 11:40:47 am
Yeah, the forward edge.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 29, 2012, 11:50:35 am
So you're now supercooled?

How's that feel?
No, no, no...the trailing edge is supercooled. He's compressed, and thus a little exothermic under the collar. Especially now that his collar is shrunk to roughly Planck length.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on November 29, 2012, 11:53:41 am
Shouldn't he have been fried by the radiation that is produced? I read that would be a real problem for the area you'd be travelling to.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 29, 2012, 12:22:59 pm
Shouldn't he have been fried by the radiation that is produced? I read that would be a real problem for the area you'd be travelling to.
Depends on the coefficient of speed. A relatively minor "tilt" would just generate some heat. Very high speed tilts would theoretically turn just about everything into gamma rays. So maybe he'd have superpowers.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: inteuniso on November 29, 2012, 12:34:54 pm
So.

When's this experiment they're doing gonna be finished?
Random yelling

They're doing an experiment, and the initial data after him doing analysis is pointing at the mass-energy requirement being somewhat smaller than the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

You're right, it's not real yet. But the fact that they're beginning on testing means it's possible.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Descan on November 29, 2012, 01:05:44 pm
Mass-energy requirment meaning they need the equivalent amount of energy as is in the mass of Voyager 1.

Not that they can use the same amount of power as that what powered V'ger.

Because that would be silly...

... 
/me crosses fingers.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 29, 2012, 01:25:00 pm
Pretty sure that's right, because at launch, V'Ger ran on about 470 watts. There are plenty of PCs out there that run on more than that.

That's still kind of daunting, because the mass of Voyager 1, if completely converted to energy at 100% efficiency, would be equal to 6.49*1019 joules (65 exajoules).

For comparison, the United States uses about 94 exajoules of energy per year.  :(
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 29, 2012, 01:27:01 pm
At least it's possible, though. Just not with what we have. Now, with antimatter-matter reactors...
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 29, 2012, 01:28:53 pm
Just for your information.

Voyager weight: 815 kilograms (at launch)
E=MC˛
So we get an estimated energy required of around 732*1017 Joules.

This is comparable to the Yearly energy usage of the United states (94*1018). Also , the energy of 70.000 Tsar Bomba detonations.

Edit: Got ninja mathed.
Edit 2: it's better than 170*1042 Joules, which was the previous estimation.

At least it's possible, though. Just not with what we have. Now, with antimatter-matter reactors...
And where are you going to get the antimatter from?

Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 29, 2012, 01:31:17 pm
We can make and store antimatter, just not very well. Presumably we will eventually get better at it.

There may or may not be naturally existing antimatter in the universe as well.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 29, 2012, 01:39:13 pm
You can't make an energy profit out of making antimatter. That'd be like using a wood powered generator to power a lightbulb that then provides light for your tree to grow.
At least, that's how the current procedure works, I believe.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 29, 2012, 01:44:16 pm
You don't need to be making a profit. We're trying to release a lot of energy at once in a specific format to warp spacetime, not make an energy profit.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 29, 2012, 01:46:03 pm
You don't need to be making a profit. We're trying to release a lot of energy at once in a specific format to warp spacetime, not make an energy profit.
That'll work. Probably. There are easier ways to do it though.

Also, who said all the energy had to be released at once. That just sounds like the design principle of an explosive.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 29, 2012, 01:48:15 pm
Not all at once. I mean gradually, which means that the energy needs to be prepared to be released beforehand. Antimatter is excellent for this.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 29, 2012, 01:50:30 pm
Not all at once. I mean gradually, which means that the energy needs to be prepared to be released beforehand. Antimatter is excellent for this.
Not really. It's highly unstable, and requires lot's of energy for containment. It does have a high energy density.  It all depends which sort of power you need, and what the limitations on the ship are. It might be possible to provide the energy with a laser from Earth, for example.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 29, 2012, 01:52:52 pm
We're talking about an FTL drive here. The energy source can't be based on Earth, by definition we will be trying to go away from Earth.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: andrea on November 29, 2012, 01:54:50 pm
yes. a laser isn't going to be fast enough to keep up with the warp bubble.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 29, 2012, 01:59:42 pm
A warp bubble isn't nessecairily faster than light. There are serious problems(like Hawking radiation) coming up as soon as you go faster than light, which would make ship design even harder. Might be safer just to stay near relativistic.

Also, you can shoot in advance.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: andrea on November 29, 2012, 02:03:47 pm
shooting in advance might take some math, but it is an interesting idea.
however, would it really work? you would catch up with the beam from behind. wouldn't that mean that once inside warp bubble it keeps trying to go away from you? since inside the bubble you are going slower than light.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: TheBronzePickle on November 29, 2012, 02:05:06 pm
I think the point of the warp bubble is basically like every 'realistic' fictional warp technology: instead of going faster than light, make space smaller so you can just cross it faster at non-light speed.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: andrea on November 29, 2012, 02:08:14 pm
that is more or less how it would work. compress space forward, and expand it backward. this propels a chunck of space forward. 
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Lightningfalcon on November 29, 2012, 04:09:28 pm
Could you instead shoot the laser at it from the destination?  I remember seeing something about doing that for spacecraft before.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 29, 2012, 04:10:54 pm
That kind of defeats the purpose of having an FTL drive.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Lightningfalcon on November 29, 2012, 04:17:05 pm
Yeah, there was the slight problem of getting it to the destination first.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on November 29, 2012, 04:28:09 pm
Pretty sure that's right, because at launch, V'Ger ran on about 470 watts.
You can't know that.  V'Ger (and its three immediate predecessors) haven't even been launched yet, with only Voyagers 1 and 2 so far having been launched.  (In our time-line, at least!)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: werty892 on November 29, 2012, 05:05:17 pm
All you shmucks talking about radiation... the ship stays in place, so no radiation is generated, but space is contracting in front and expanding in the back, and space moving that way moves the ship FTL but makes no hawking radiation. Did you not read the article?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on November 29, 2012, 05:18:28 pm
Also, I think that this method avoids the problem of time dilation, imaginary time, infinite mass etc. too.

First I thought someone had ignored my wall of text again (wouldn't blame you), but just realised that's another thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116604.msg3835114#msg3835114).  (Skip to the "So (@TheBronzePickle)" bit, about 2/5ths of the way down. ;))
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on November 29, 2012, 05:38:44 pm
So, to an outside observer, you arrive there at the SoL?
Erm... if that's about what I just put (must be), and you didn't start right at the top (I told you not to, because that was the original replying vector, before I went off into the fantasy I decided needed conveying here), then... no.

That's FTL I'm describing, with the "avoiding the issues with time dilation, etc, etc", much as you just talked about.

You appear to have moved at... erm... (365*24*60..., carry the one, shift to the left...) 525,600 times the SoL, in that "Took four minutes to go 4LY" (objectively and subjectively) example.

Which I also tried to make pains to explain is just a thought experiment based upon a possibly fictional 'special' case of travel.  (But the one you just suggested.)

So, no, I can't tell you how I know this.  (My Galactic Brood Brothers would kill me if I tried!)

Quote
Basically, we can come up with theories left, right and centre, but until it is done, we have fuck all of an idea of what WILL DEFINITELY happen.
Indeedily.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Graknorke on November 29, 2012, 06:20:55 pm
Your hatred and insanity shall be the one to pierce the heavens!

Perhaps literally.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Vorthon on November 29, 2012, 06:24:42 pm
That's assuming they have bones to begin with.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Vorthon on November 29, 2012, 06:33:31 pm
And you're assuming at terran-type biochemistry.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Teneb on November 29, 2012, 07:18:00 pm
And you're assuming at terran-type biochemistry.
It doesn't matter if they are pure energy beings. We WILL find a way to make a profit out of them.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: werty892 on November 29, 2012, 07:33:50 pm
And you're assuming at terran-type biochemistry.
It doesn't matter if they are pure energy beings. We WILL find a way to make a profit out of them.

We can power our ships with them!
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Max White on November 29, 2012, 08:02:28 pm
What does a 'pure energy being' even entitle? For that matter, what is 'pure energy'? And how does it form a being?!? If it is pure energy, wouldn't it be a perfectly homogeneous blob of energy? Can a perfectly homogeneous blob of anything ever be a sentient being?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on November 29, 2012, 08:47:03 pm
What does a 'pure energy being' even entitle? For that matter, what is 'pure energy'? And how does it form a being?!? If it is pure energy, wouldn't it be a perfectly homogeneous blob of energy? Can a perfectly homogeneous blob of anything ever be a sentient being?
A complex interaction of magnetic loops?

It would need to be a self-sustaining (or at least cyclically reforming itself into a roughly equivalent new formations, much as our limbs pretty much stay attached, however much we move them around to accomplish our more corporeal 'work'), feeding off of more ambient versions of itself as necessary, and for a properly reproducing life should be able to do some energy-formation equivalent of DNA replication...  Perhaps.

I think that it couldn't just sit in isolation, but might well be the formation of a being that resides within a plasma substrate (such as within the atmosphere of a star).  And perhaps if intelligence (or happenstance instinct) allows such a being to develop an 'energy ship' of contsructed magnetic lines that allows an 'atmosphere' of plasma to be taken (with a magnetic-loop-being within that) out of its original habitat and somewhere where it might encounter strange chemical-bond-formed creatures, such as us, on the (to them) 'lifeless' surfaces of the 'rocky waste balls that its ship probably cannot survive a full-on encounter with the atmosphere of anyway...  It might meet us while our "Metal cans" are flying around.  Whether it'll recognise us, is another matter.  As is whether our tin-can pilots and other passengers would recognise this strange "coronal mass ejection" thing as being a sentient being (at least somewhere inside) on an exploration mission of its own...
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Euld on November 29, 2012, 09:08:25 pm
A popular notion is energy beings were once a race of fleshy creatures who learned how to become energy beings through enlightenment and !!SCIENCE!!.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Vorthon on November 29, 2012, 09:09:32 pm
I like the sun-dweller idea better.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Facekillz058 on November 29, 2012, 09:11:22 pm
So, I haven't read anything on this past the first link, and i'm going to say:
I'm going to laugh when the first test lands the ship:
A. In the middle of the sun.
B. In the middle of a planet.
C. Next to a black hole.
D. In an entirely different universe filled with hyper-intelligent time-beings, with tenticals.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MagmaMcFry on November 30, 2012, 06:11:49 am
I'm sure our elven hatred and insanity can produce exotic matter. We shall fuel this engine with insanity and hatred to ascend to the stars!

[MATTER_EXOTIC]

Needs to happen.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Loud Whispers on November 30, 2012, 07:53:38 am
Math's just a language, one that allows models that don't neceseraly reflect reality. It's physics you need.
Recently I stumbled upon a definition of maths that changed my perception of it entirely.
Numbers are all vectors, axioms are everything that define how maths works.
The axioms describe how our universe works; if you changed the universe - you change the axioms, and so change the numbers.
So in this regard maths isn't a language, but a description of how the world works investigated by physics.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: ChairmanPoo on November 30, 2012, 08:05:30 am
Math's just a language, one that allows models that don't neceseraly reflect reality. It's physics you need.
Recently I stumbled upon a definition of maths that changed my perception of it entirely.
Numbers are all vectors, axioms are everything that define how maths works.
The axioms describe how our universe works; if you changed the universe - you change the axioms, and so change the numbers.
So in this regard maths isn't a language, but a description of how the world works investigated by physics.
Just remember. Yog Sothoth is the Key AND the Gate
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Haspen on November 30, 2012, 08:11:37 am
Shameless PTW.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on November 30, 2012, 09:15:05 am
And you're assuming at terran-type biochemistry.
It doesn't matter if they are pure energy beings. We WILL find a way to make a profit out of them.

We can power our ships with them!
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2050#comic
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: werty892 on November 30, 2012, 09:43:46 am
And you're assuming at terran-type biochemistry.
It doesn't matter if they are pure energy beings. We WILL find a way to make a profit out of them.

We can power our ships with them!
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2050#comic

Heh, I lol'ed.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 30, 2012, 10:20:32 am
Math's just a language, one that allows models that don't neceseraly reflect reality. It's physics you need.
Recently I stumbled upon a definition of maths that changed my perception of it entirely.
Numbers are all vectors, axioms are everything that define how maths works.
The axioms describe how our universe works; if you changed the universe - you change the axioms, and so change the numbers.
So in this regard maths isn't a language, but a description of how the world works investigated by physics.
Just remember. Yog Sothoth is the Key AND the Gate
Hmm...well at least the Alcubierre bubble should be free of Hounds of Tindalos, since it doesn't have any angled surfaces.

It is kind of ironic that most of human progress has come from someone trying to find a better way to kill, sell or exploit. Art, music and literature were just kind of side effects created to pass the time (and give somebody something to sell).
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Loud Whispers on November 30, 2012, 11:20:55 am
It is kind of ironic that most of human progress has come from someone trying to find a better way to kill, sell or exploit. Art, music and literature were just kind of side effects created to pass the time (and give somebody something to sell).
Kinda unfair generalization, considering how a lot of those things appeared in isolationist societies and societies without monetary values :<
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 30, 2012, 11:56:02 am
It is kind of ironic that most of human progress has come from someone trying to find a better way to kill, sell or exploit. Art, music and literature were just kind of side effects created to pass the time (and give somebody something to sell).
Kinda unfair generalization, considering how a lot of those things appeared in isolationist societies and societies without monetary values :<
Maybe the latter part was a tad cynical. But the original assertion stands. Even the most remote tribe in the Amazon eventually advances their technology by finding a better way to kill prey they're hunting, or exploit their resources more efficiently. Selling does take two parties, but as soon as the notion of trade exists, somebody is hard at work finding a way to optimize the system to their benefit. That's what humans do...we're extraordinarily good at gaming the system to our own ends, whether that system be man-made, like economics, or universal like physics. I mean, look at the Alcubierre Drive...it's essentially trying to exploit some quirks in the math of the universe to do things we "shouldn't" be able to.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Loud Whispers on November 30, 2012, 12:02:16 pm
Well art, music and literature being side effects is what I'm disagreeing with. The whole thing about technological advances coming about as more ways to kill people good = spot on. But there are always exceptions, much like with industrialism. Or Sparta.

Mmmm... Spartaaa...
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedWarrior0 on November 30, 2012, 12:53:38 pm
Then what's agriculture? A fluke?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 30, 2012, 12:57:28 pm
Possibly. It lowered the quality of life of those who engaged in it for a long time, so it may well have been an infectious fluke, if ultimately one that paid off.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Loud Whispers on November 30, 2012, 01:04:13 pm
Possibly. It lowered the quality of life of those who engaged in it for a long time, so it may well have been an infectious fluke, if ultimately one that paid off.
Wait, what?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on November 30, 2012, 01:07:30 pm
Agriculture was the beginning of social stratification and inequality. It's hard to have that in hunter-gatherer bands since there isn't much to have in the first place, and what there is to have is usually abundant enough.

Furthermore, the hunter-gatherers moved from place to place while the agriculturalists stayed in one place, which created squalor that they had to live in. Not healthy. 
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 30, 2012, 01:12:18 pm
Also, diversity of food* decreased, and food security** became a problem.

* There's a limited number of domesticated plants
**Pests and stuff
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedKing on November 30, 2012, 01:13:48 pm
Then what's agriculture? A fluke?
A more effective way to exploit resources (particularly manpower). Tribe gets too big, becomes hard to obtain enough food via hunting and gathering. Agriculture is inefficient with small groups, not only because of the labor-intensive nature of farming, but the infrastructure required to exploit it effectively (granaries, mills, irrigation, etc.)

Once you got a lot of people, you can pull that shit off (which in turn leads to specialization of labor as you get people who specialize in building things, others that specialize in recording and keeping track of things, etc.)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: FearfulJesuit on November 30, 2012, 01:35:23 pm
It's also well-recorded that many hunter-gatherer tribes- those living on arable land- are perfectly aware of the possibility of crops, but disdain it. The loss of freedom is intolerable.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Mr. Palau on November 30, 2012, 03:13:08 pm
It's also well-recorded that many hunter-gatherer tribes- those living on arable land- are perfectly aware of the possibility of crops, but disdain it. The loss of freedom is intolerable.
That is today, after they have encountered agricultural peoples. You can not infer whether ancient hunter-gatherers were aware of the possibility of crops, or whether they disdained it.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on November 30, 2012, 03:19:15 pm
Agriculture was the beginning of social stratification and inequality.
So we can see who had an interest...
But food security becoming a problem? The entire idea of agriculture is having a more secure source of food - if you catch no game, you're gone in two or three weeks; if you're growing your own food, you can stay in one place set up a stockpile to get over the shortages.
It's also well-recorded that many hunter-gatherer tribes- those living on arable land- are perfectly aware of the possibility of crops, but disdain it. The loss of freedom is intolerable.
That could very well be a cultural thing, especially considering that if they stayed hunter-gatherers for so long they're bound to have developed some prejudices against agriculture.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Neonivek on November 30, 2012, 03:26:57 pm
It is hard to escape inventions to kill something.

Afterall what is agriculture but killing plants?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Loud Whispers on November 30, 2012, 03:41:23 pm
Conclusion of derail:
Humanity has a habit of putting people who like exploiting people into positions of power over people.
Resulting in exploitation.

Anything about the science? Please?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Teneb on November 30, 2012, 03:45:19 pm
Conclusion of derail:
Humanity has a habit of putting people who like exploiting people into positions of power over people.
Resulting in exploitation.
Hopefuly you won't mind if I sig that.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Darvi on November 30, 2012, 03:48:22 pm
Conclusion of derail:
Humanity has a habit of putting people who like exploiting people into positions of power over people.
Resulting in exploitation.

Anything about the science? Please?
Might be related to the Peter Principle.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on November 30, 2012, 04:01:45 pm
You didn't say what kind of science. Social science time!

How would a meritocratic system have to be designed to avoid the Peter principle?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Darvi on November 30, 2012, 04:05:44 pm
I derped there and mixed up the Peter Principle with the Dilbert Principle (which a meritocratic system would, for the most part, would manage to avoid since meritocrats usually have a clue about what they're talking about).
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on November 30, 2012, 04:12:50 pm
Agriculture was the beginning of social stratification and inequality.
So we can see who had an interest...
But food security becoming a problem? The entire idea of agriculture is having a more secure source of food - if you catch no game, you're gone in two or three weeks; if you're growing your own food, you can stay in one place set up a stockpile to get over the shortages..
You become dependent on one source of food, while hunter gatherers depend on several (Berries, catch, whatever edible stuff they find). Hunter gatherers can also move if they want to. It's higly unlikely that they'll find nothing for several weeks.

Secondly, agriculture is often a monoculture, or at a very select amount of plants. If a harvest fails (due to floods, pests, whatever) then you're not going to have enough food to the last to the next one. Sure, you can make a stockpile, but pests will make short work of it and besides, you need that for sowing the new plants.

The entire idea of agriculture was more food from less ground. It's like putting all your (ostrich) eggs in one basket, instead of regular eggs in multiple baskets.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Mageziya on November 30, 2012, 05:45:44 pm
One problem I see with this: Communication.

Sure, you can travel multiple light-years in a day, but communications are still bound by light.

Once you reach a certain point, communication with earth is impractical. To actually test this thing out full scale, we would need to send people on a potential suicide mission, and we would never actually know what happens if they don't return. Even after everything is found to be working, all long distance missions would still be total isolation.

And even when space travel, colonies, and whatnot are established, if we don't revolutionize communications, this would still be a big problem.

Here are what I think what some possible solutions are for the communications problems:


That's all I can really think about in terms of solutions.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Teneb on November 30, 2012, 05:47:46 pm
  • Sending messenger ships back and forth, carrying information between locations. Sort of like how we had runners in the past to relay information, but in spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace.

My guess is that we will have to rely on this at first.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on December 01, 2012, 12:16:46 pm
Why not have the distortions themselves as the carriers of signals? Smoke signals, but
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on December 01, 2012, 12:38:07 pm
What about vaporisers?

Those would also make a good anti-laser measure, but suck (despite the name) as an offensive weapon.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Eagle_eye on December 01, 2012, 01:37:56 pm
Unless of course the laser is strong enough to shove them out of the way.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Descan on December 01, 2012, 03:38:24 pm
I don't think any methods we have to detect space distortion work at faster that light...
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 01, 2012, 06:30:15 pm
Sending messenger ships back and forth, carrying information between locations. Sort of like how we had runners in the past to relay information, but in spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace.
And name the organization managing all of that the Spacing Guild while we're at it.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Bauglir on December 01, 2012, 06:32:26 pm
Sending messenger ships back and forth, carrying information between locations. Sort of like how we had runners in the past to relay information, but in spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace.
And name the organization managing all of that the Spacing Guild while we're at it.
Could we call it the Space Post Office of Space?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Teneb on December 01, 2012, 06:41:41 pm
Could we call it the Space Post Office of Space?
Needs more Space.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 01, 2012, 06:43:43 pm
Needs more spice.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on December 01, 2012, 07:32:18 pm
Now, if only I could fully quote here the list of public holidays that the Babylon 5 post office observed...
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Darvi on December 01, 2012, 07:35:20 pm
Needs more spice.
This. FTL travel can kill you without the stuff.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Solifuge on December 01, 2012, 08:21:26 pm
Needs more spice.
This. FTL travel can kill you without the stuff.

Hehe... speaking of which, the whole reason for the spice was to give Navigators the prescient vision needed to know the one trajectory that wouldn't warp your ship into any solid matter. When you're traveling at near-relativistic speeds, a pebble or cloud of dust will collide with you and generate enough heat and pressure to trigger explosions of plasma and nuclear fusion. And that's during the fraction of an instant that they completely slice through the ship, you, and everything else you're carrying.

However... since these are only moving on a 4D/Time Axis, and not in 3D Space, I wonder if this bubble of local space/time will repel other matter from outside. And if so, that has a whole 'nother set of awesome applications in things like force-fields, etc.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: RedWarrior0 on December 01, 2012, 08:49:06 pm
What's your favorite thing about space? Mine is space

SPACESPACESPACESPACESPACESPACESPACESPACESPACESPACESPACESPACE SPAAAAAAACE I like space do you like space?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Kadzar on December 02, 2012, 04:45:31 am
-snip-
-snip-
-snip-
You people are all being very silly. Obviously the only logical name for such an organization is the Space Pony Express. Or Robot Space Pony Express if they use drones.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on December 02, 2012, 05:21:34 am
Needs more spice.
This. FTL travel can kill you without the stuff.

Hehe... speaking of which, the whole reason for the spice was to give Navigators the prescient vision needed to know the one trajectory that wouldn't warp your ship into any solid matter. When you're traveling at near-relativistic speeds, a pebble or cloud of dust will collide with you and generate enough heat and pressure to trigger explosions of plasma and nuclear fusion. And that's during the fraction of an instant that they completely slice through the ship, you, and everything else you're carrying.

However... since these are only moving on a 4D/Time Axis, and not in 3D Space, I wonder if this bubble of local space/time will repel other matter from outside. And if so, that has a whole 'nother set of awesome applications in things like force-fields, etc.
It won't repell it. It will rapidly compress it (turning it into plasma), then cool it down when it leaves on the other side. The fun fact is that neither the ship, nor the particle are moving at relativistic speed inside the bubble (Unless the particle collided at relativistic speeds). So yeah, it'd be just as dangerous as a vapourized micrometeroid.

Edit: For FTl communications, how about Quantum entanglement?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 02, 2012, 07:08:43 am
Can't transfer classical information that way, sorry. Any attempt at modifying the system in a way that is measurable as a definite 'bit' on the other side will break the entanglement, since the particles have to be in thermodynamic equilibrium.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Scelly9 on December 02, 2012, 07:12:22 am
PTW, because FTL!
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: werty892 on December 02, 2012, 10:14:40 am
Need more space spice socks !!xXPig-Tail Fiber SockXx!!
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on December 02, 2012, 12:58:00 pm
Can't transfer classical information that way, sorry. Any attempt at modifying the system in a way that is measurable as a definite 'bit' on the other side will break the entanglement, since the particles have to be in thermodynamic equilibrium.
I believe the idea was that you would rapidly break and replace the entanglement to transfer the data, much in the same way it could be used for functional teleportation, but quicker.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 02, 2012, 02:31:30 pm
How would that result in the transfer of data?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on December 02, 2012, 02:35:43 pm
The bit is modified when the entanglement breaks. Enough of this will result in parsable communication.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: kaijyuu on December 02, 2012, 02:58:12 pm
You can't determine when the entanglement breaks, iirc.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 02, 2012, 03:07:46 pm
The bit is modified when the entanglement breaks. Enough of this will result in parsable communication.
You can't distinguish between modification of the bit upon breaking the entanglement or modification of the bit upon measuring it, so I don't see how you're going to actually extract that information?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Solifuge on December 02, 2012, 04:58:35 pm
I don't know much about how one observes the state of quantum entanglement. Don't suppose there's a byproduct of entanglement, such as released energy or whatnot, that's measurable, and which wouldn't interfere with the source?

If so, you could probably use frequency of entanglement breaks to communicate data, yeah?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 02, 2012, 05:01:08 pm
I don't know much about how one observes the state of quantum entanglement. Don't suppose there's a byproduct of entanglement that's measurable, which wouldn't interfere with the source?

If so, you could probably use frequency of entanglement breaks to communicate data, yeah?
You can't actually measure entanglement itself. The only way to determine if two particles are entangled is to measure the state of both particles and see if they're correlated. But to do that comparison you need to transfer classical data through another channel, which is limited by the speed of light (and it defeats the whole purpose of having communication through entanglement)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Eagle_eye on December 02, 2012, 05:59:34 pm
Is there any way to force a pair of particles to become entangled, so that you can be sure that the data on your end is an accurate reflection of what's on the other end, even if it is FTL?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 02, 2012, 06:26:15 pm
Yes, that's how normal entanglement works. Entanglement works because of conservation laws. For example, if two spin-1/2 particles have been formed from a spin-0 particle, their spin states must add up to 0, since spin has to be conserved. This means that if one particle is measured to be <+1/2|, the other particle must be <-1/2| to keep the universe sane. The problem is that you cannot influence the probability function of only one of the particles and keep the entanglement, because if you do, conservation of spin no longer applies to the two-particle system. You also can't determine if particle 1 has been measured by measuring particle two, because the end result of measuring both particles in succession is independent of the order in which you measure them.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: olemars on December 02, 2012, 07:37:31 pm
I learnt from Mass Effect 2 that a hundred entangled particles is enough for full 3D video transmission.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 02, 2012, 07:41:31 pm
I learned from the Mass Effect series that there are at least 10 people out there that want to bone me. Somehow I don't think it's all that trustworthy :P
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on December 02, 2012, 09:03:34 pm
I learned from N that I can prolong my life by collecting little square gold pieces.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on December 03, 2012, 05:39:45 am
I learnt from Pacman that I should wander around large buildings while repetitive modern music plays, eating consciousness-altering pills and attacking 'ghosts' so that their eyeballs fly away.

That stood me in good stead for those Raves, I tell you.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: DJ on December 03, 2012, 07:06:05 am
OK, is it just me, or does anyone else keep reading the title as Albuquerque Drive?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on December 03, 2012, 07:58:06 am
OK, is it just me, or does anyone else keep reading the title as Albuquerque Drive?
I didn't, mainly because I probably would have spelt it "Albequerque" (or maybe even worse than that  "...kirkie"?), but now I doubtless will.

As well as humming the tune to go with "Warp Drive // Breaking Light // Al... Bu... Querque!".  Doubtless sung by Prefab Spacestation. ;)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on December 03, 2012, 07:59:36 am
OK, is it just me, or does anyone else keep reading the title as Albuquerque Drive?

((Had to look that one up))

So a FTL drive powered by an American city. I'm afraid we haven't managed a stupidity to energy transfer yet.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: olemars on December 03, 2012, 08:00:42 am
Apparently, one Albuquerque Drive has already been built (http://goo.gl/maps/uLjyf).
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Skyrunner on December 03, 2012, 08:06:52 am
OK, is it just me, or does anyone else keep reading the title as Albuquerque Drive?

((Had to look that one up))

So a FTL drive powered by an American city. I'm afraid we haven't managed a stupidity to energy transfer yet.
Invent that, and you will become a billionaire!
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on December 03, 2012, 08:16:17 am
Apparently, one Albuquerque Drive has already been built (http://goo.gl/maps/uLjyf).
Hmm, so if you stretch that road from Earth to Alpha Centauri then travel between here and there would be like a walk to the shops.  (I didn't actually see any shops on it, of course, so I might be wrong about that.)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Mech#4 on December 03, 2012, 11:47:39 am
OK, is it just me, or does anyone else keep reading the title as Albuquerque Drive?

((Had to look that one up))

So a FTL drive powered by an American city. I'm afraid we haven't managed a stupidity to energy transfer yet.
Invent that, and you will become a billionaire!

Though it would only be capable of left turns.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Reudh on December 07, 2012, 12:41:22 am
If I remember right, Alcubierre drives are a paradox because you need a previous Alcubierre drive to pave the way for the one coming. Hence, it's impossible.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on December 07, 2012, 12:43:48 am
Uh...no? All it does is bend spacetime. You only need one.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Kadzar on December 07, 2012, 12:52:59 am
No way, we aren't unleashing spambots on the universe.
I wonder how aliens would react to our species if their first contact with us was an ad for tentacle enhancement pills.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on December 07, 2012, 06:38:51 am
I am Dr. John Typicalname's widow, the wife of the human in charge of Auditing section of Earth in Geneva, Switzershire, Terraearth, Solsun, Orion-Cygnus Arm. I need your urgent business assistance in transferring an abandoned sum of MW§19.3x1015 left by a deceased visitor to my planet immediately to your homeworld.

If you are interested and ready to partake in this great business opportunity, kindly send your probes to me including your self/hive-identification index, Brood-Name, Planet/Spacial Coordinates andyour quantum-linking number for easy communication.

I will send you full details on how the business will be executed and also note that you will receive 40% of the above mentioned amount if you agree to help me execute this business.

May the almighty Entropy be favourably with you at all times so Please contact me back FOR THE FULL DETAILS OF THIS PROPOSAL,WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMETIONS.

YOUR FULL SELF/HIVE-IDENTIFICATION INDEX..........................

YOUR BROOD-NAME............................

YOUR PLANET OR SPACIAL COORDINATES............................

YOUR QUANTUM-LINKING NUMBER............................

Respectfully.

Dr. John Typicalname (Mrs)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Rose on December 07, 2012, 06:57:11 am
lulz
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Virex on December 07, 2012, 09:29:40 am
If I remember right, Alcubierre drives are a paradox because you need a previous Alcubierre drive to pave the way for the one coming. Hence, it's impossible.
IIRC, that's only true for a FTL Alcubierre drive made without using exotic mater.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: kaijyuu on December 07, 2012, 10:22:58 am
If I remember right, Alcubierre drives are a paradox because you need a previous Alcubierre drive to pave the way for the one coming. Hence, it's impossible.
IIRC, that's only true for a FTL Alcubierre drive made without using exotic mater.
Oh great, it's either impossible because we haven't built one yet, or it's impossible because we're using imaginary matter to build one.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: DJ on December 07, 2012, 10:49:35 am
Even if we had to build "roads" with sublight ships FTL would still be plenty useful.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on December 07, 2012, 11:18:48 am
If I remember right, Alcubierre drives are a paradox because you need a previous Alcubierre drive to pave the way for the one coming. Hence, it's impossible.
IIRC, that's only true for a FTL Alcubierre drive made without using exotic mater.
Oh great, it's either impossible because we haven't built one yet, or it's impossible because we're using imaginary matter to build one.
Exotic matter. Negative density matter to be precise. Besides, we could try using the Casimir effect to replace the exotic matter

Imaginary matter is something else entirely. Basically, it's impossible for imaginary matter to move slower than light. Got a lot to do with Tachyons and stuff.

((It suprises me how much we know about stuff without knowing wherether or not it actually exist))
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on December 07, 2012, 11:54:56 am
That's physics for you. It really says something when a field of science has two entire subfields that are completely devoted to the theoretical aspects of it.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: 10ebbor10 on December 07, 2012, 11:58:26 am
Strangest is when it actually starts to produce benefits, despite still not knowing if the material exists.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on December 07, 2012, 12:31:00 pm
That's physics for you. It really says something when a field of science has two entire subfields that are completely devoted to the theoretical aspects of it.
Which two subfields do you mean?

Strangest is when it actually starts to produce benefits, despite still not knowing if the material exists.
Well, it hasn't produced benefits yet, now has it? Or are you thinking of something else?
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: MetalSlimeHunt on December 07, 2012, 12:32:56 pm
That's physics for you. It really says something when a field of science has two entire subfields that are completely devoted to the theoretical aspects of it.
Which two subfields do you mean?
Theoretical Physics and Theoretical Particle Physics, which do not overlap as much as you might think.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Sheb on December 07, 2012, 12:39:58 pm
PTW
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on December 07, 2012, 12:41:37 pm
Strangest is when it actually starts to produce benefits, despite still not knowing if the material exists.
Well, it hasn't produced benefits yet, now has it? Or are you thinking of something else?

Well, I live on Ceti Sigma IV but work in Los Angeles.  Only takes me three hours to get to work.  And that's mostly on the I5.

*some of the above facts may be untrue
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Vorthon on December 07, 2012, 04:11:08 pm
You just butchered the Bayer system, Starver. I hope you're happy. :P
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Africa on December 07, 2012, 04:14:16 pm
I dunno about this warp drive, it's all fun and games until someone's eyes get ripped out by extra-dimensional demons.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Starver on December 07, 2012, 04:58:47 pm
You just butchered the Bayer system, Starver. I hope you're happy. :P
Only a few of you petty humans realise how limiting that system actually is, I just wanted to obscure the actual area code because I don't want you lot just turning up on my airlockstep unannounced...

(One guy's on the right track (http://what-if.xkcd.com/23/), fourth question down.)
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: da_nang on December 07, 2012, 05:36:44 pm
I dunno about this warp drive, it's all fun and games until someone's eyes get ripped out by extra-dimensional demons.
Just grab a random person, rip out his vocal chords and give him a beard and crowbar. Problem solved. Alternatively, magma.
Title: Re: NASA developing Warp Drive, "Alcubierre Drive"
Post by: Helgoland on December 08, 2012, 12:27:11 am
Scare the demons so they'll go back on their own. Rape them, maybe.

"In Bay12, tentacles are afraid of you!"