TW Batsignal...NASA speed of light travel?

[Sgt Hulka]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/nasa-might-have-successfully-tested-a-warp-drive-could-carry-people-at-speeds-as-fast-as-light-10215544.html

"The agency has built an electromagnetic (EM) drive, using technology that shouldn’t be possible in current understanding of physics, according to users on forum NASASpaceFlight.com. Some of those discussing the plan claim to be Nasa engineers that are currently working on the plan — and have been verified as such, according to Cnet."

Mods, please move this to the Pit...sorry.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

 

[dmcheatw]

i promise you nothing physical, with mass, will ever travel at the speed of light. information might be able to (spooky action), and humans might actually just be information at the end of the day, but your physical body will not travel at the speed of light and it'd be useless to do so anyway for the time being.

also no fuel would make it a perpetual motion machine wouldn't it? that's also impossible.

In the first Cosmos, carl sagan outlined a machine that we can build that could get humans to tenths of the speed of light, but again it's pointless, so nobody bothers.

still interesting though

 

[ONW]

They can get pretty close, but not possible. Cool article for dorks like me though.

 

[RacerDeac]

i promise you nothing physical, with mass, will ever travel at the speed of light. information might be able to (spooky action), and humans might actually just be information at the end of the day, but your physical body will not travel at the speed of light and it'd be useless to do so anyway for the time being.

In the first Cosmos, carl sagan outlined a machine that we can build that could get humans to tenths of the speed of light, but again it's pointless, so nobody bothers.

It's a bad headline. The article is a bit less ambitious in that it suggests an EM could potentially propel humans up to 10% of the speed of light. Approaching the speed of light, sure, but not the same as what the headline seems to imply. That said, there is additional discussion ongoing about a laser "moving" at speeds greater than the speed of light during the experiment that is causing a lot of confusion in the reporting. I haven't read enough to really sort through it yet. The thread where it's being discussed quickly goes into science over my head and the reporting (like this article) on the information in that thread makes it obvious that the thread is way over the reporters' heads as well. I haven't found an article yet, written by a scientist, that accurately dumbs things down.

also no fuel would make it a perpetual motion machine wouldn't it? that's also impossible.

It's a simplified use of the word fuel. It's absolutely a net user of energy and in no way a perpetual motion machine, as the drive requires electricity to power the magnets and that electricity must come from somewhere. In the case of a long range ship using this type of propulsion, it would likely be powered by a nuclear reactor. It's fuel, but it's not rocket fuel. You can fit far more nuclear fuel into a much smaller space.

 

[RacerDeac]

Ok, here's the best synopsis I've found that breaks down the science and discussion on the NasaSpaceFlight.com thread:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/evaluating-nasas-futuristic-em-drive/