How fast can we go?

harry · Post by **harry** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:30 am

Hello All

It must be Xmas and a Happy new year as the song goes.

Orin some one told me that if matter approaches the speed of light, fusion of the matter occurs.

What do you think?

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 2:17 pm

harry wrote:Hello All

It must be Xmas and a Happy new year as the song goes.

Orin some one told me that if matter approaches the speed of light, fusion of the matter occurs.

What do you think?

I'm not sure Harry; I think since light itself may be a particle; does it experience fusion? Might be something to study.

Orin

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:12 pm

I found this Harry; http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/R ... ights.html
there was no reference to fusion though.

Orin

harry · Post by **harry** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:46 am

Hello Orin

Think about for a sec.

Just had a thought.

If matter goes at the speed of light, before it even gets there, the amount of collisions with the odd atoms would increase. Energized photons cause fission reactions breaking down the matter to protons and the resultant possible fusion.

Must try it one day.

If we cannot take matter to the mountain we will bring the mountain to the matter. By shooting high energy photons into the matter.

In stars, before a supernova, the iron is broken down by high energy photons to neutrons and to protons and to neutrons and psossibly quarks.

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:51 pm

If you are traveling in a warp bubble you wouldn't encounter these collisions as you would be carrying your own space with you. I wouldn't think it would be practical to to accelerate to light speed. Actually no one knows if either can be done. Think of this when we turn on a light source we are sending photons out at the speed of light.

When those photons hit other matter they are stopped completely unless that object is transparent or opaque.

I'll leave the atom smashing to those more qualified. It's a little too deep for me.

Orin

harry · Post by **harry** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:17 pm

Hello Orin

I did not know you could carry your own space.

I will learn to carry my own space.

Must tell that to my wife.

Happy New Year

Merry Xmas for those celeb today

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 5:27 am

harry wrote:Hello Orin

I did not know you could carry your own space.

I will learn to carry my own space.

Must tell that to my wife.

Happy New Year

Merry Xmas for those celeb today

I'm not sure you can! Like I said I'm not sure either can be done! I'll be long gone before a working warp drive can be built. It is nice to imagine though. Happy new year to you Harry and everybody.

Orin

harry · Post by **harry** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:00 am

Hello Orin

Smile,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thats not the type of space of I was talking about.

You know ,,,,,,,,,,"I need my spcae" thing

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:20 pm

harry wrote:Hello Orin

Smile,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thats not the type of space of I was talking about.

You know ,,,,,,,,,,"I need my spcae" thing

OK Harry you got me there! I think if warp drive were to come into being the biggest problem would be when stopping. So that you wouldn't stop into some place; like a sun or inside an asteroid of planet.

So navigation would be key to safety.

Orin

harry · Post by **harry** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:36 pm

Hello Orin

The bad thing about going at C is that it can be used as a weapon.

You can blow up a planet.

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:00 pm

harry wrote:Hello Orin

The bad thing about going at C is that it can be used as a weapon.

You can blow up a planet.

Harry how can traveling at the speed of light blow up a planet?:?
Orin

harry · Post by **harry** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:33 am

Hello Orin

What would be the mass of the object at the speed of light?

This would determine the damage.

Also if the object is travelling at the speed of light it is able to cause a probable chain reaction by breaking down matter by fission reaction and than fusion reaction.
There is a file somewhere that expalins how a planet can blow up.

If I find it I will post it.

Smile, it may not.

But! what if? Imagine the weapon at hand.

Dooms day weapon.

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:06 pm

True Harry; if the object was large enough. Be like in Star wars.

I wonder what limits light to the speed of light? There must be some limiting factor?

And can that limit be broken?

http://science.howstuffworks.com/news-item6.htm
Orin

harry · Post by **harry** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:00 pm

Hello orin

I read the link

Breaking the Light Speed Limit
http://science.howstuffworks.com/news-item6.htm
This sounds very interesting

reminds me of
Speed of light broken with basic lab kit
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2796

If you can slow down and bed light, you would think that we could even make it go faster.

Light Speed
If you could spin a carousel fast enough to get its rim moving at nearly the speed of light, would time stand still for people on the carousel?
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question245.htm

I do not agree with time travel.
Nice to be able, imagine the possibilties.

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:42 pm

To go back in time; wouldn't you have to literally go back in space? Think of it; we are moving through space so what happened a 100 years ago; happened where we were in space a 100 years ago. I think we would have to go back to that point in time and space which in mind is impossible.

Unless space quite expanding and started to retract.

Orin

harry · Post by **harry** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:15 am

hello orin

you are 100% right.

but! it is fun to imagine time travel.

Did you ever whatch the movie " Time Machine" with Rod Taylor, the old one back in 1957. Its a classic.

harry · Post by **harry** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:51 am

Hello Orin

Did you give this link before

What happens to a substance if its speed is more than the speed of light?
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=56

They have other interesting comments, not that I agree with them.

Its not in my nature to agree,,,,,,,,,smile.

Orca · Post by **Orca** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:38 am

You still can't actually slow light down...you can just make it pass through substances that cause it to have long absorption/emission times. The light is still traveling 186,000 m/s in between each particle. It's the minute amount of time in the absorption/emission process that "slows it down," on average, from point a to point b.

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:34 am

Orca wrote:You still can't actually slow light down...you can just make it pass through substances that cause it to have long absorption/emission times. The light is still traveling 186,000 m/s in between each particle. It's the minute amount of time in the absorption/emission process that "slows it down," on average, from point a to point b.

You may be right Orca; but this lady; Lene Hau says you can. Under extreme conditions of course.

http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2001 ... light.html

harry · Post by **harry** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 7:19 am

Hello All

It does not have to be extreme conditions.

But! in extreme conditions where you have degerate matter the electron shell is absorbed by the neucleus of the atom. This force is so extreme that light may not even escape.

You can slow down light in magnetic fields.

You can aslo make light go faster than the speed of light. That is what some say.

Seed of light broken with basic lab kit
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2796

Is faster-than-light propagation allowed by the laws of physics?
http://metaresearch.org/cosmology/gravity/LR.asp

Has there been an experiment that measured speed faster than the speed of light in vacuum?
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/questi ... number=495

Orca · Post by **Orca** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:12 pm

Orin, so...by super-cooling certain atoms, the absorption/emission of light is slowed down tremendously...but again, I don't see how it is "slowing light," it is just slowing the process by which light travels through a gas.

Also, the researcher uses the term "nifty" too often.

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:51 pm

Orca wrote:Orin, so...by super-cooling certain atoms, the absorption/emission of light is slowed down tremendously...but again, I don't see how it is "slowing light," it is just slowing the process by which light travels through a gas.

Also, the researcher uses the term "nifty" too often.

Orca; when light is absorbed it emits heat since light is energy. Now doesn't that stop light? If you put a light in a box; turn off the light; and open the light in a dark room; there wouldn't be any light escaping the box. Same as you shut the light off in a room; the room becomes dark; so you stop light; right? Maybe you can't slow it down but you can stop it even though you change it into a different form of energy.
Orin

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:57 pm

Orca; I'm finding all kinds of things on the Internet that some scientists say they can do with light. Here is an example.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002 ... plight.htm
I know it has Lene Hau it it again.
Orin

Orca · Post by **Orca** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:33 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Orca; when light is absorbed it emits heat since light is energy. Now doesn't that stop light?
Orin

Well, when a photon of light is absorbed by an atom, "heat" increases...in the atom...as it is more energetic. But when this energy is released, it is once again a photon, perhaps of a longer wavelength (ie less energy than it started with) but nonetheless a photon. That is, it's still released as EM radiation. And again, no matter how exotic the molecules in the lab are, and no matter how long it takes for the absorption/emission process to occur, at least between each atom light would still be traveling at C, methinks! Unless I am missing something, which is never very far out of the realm of possibility.

harry · Post by **harry** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:42 am

Hello All

I understand what Orca is talking about.

The spped of light or the potential of the photon to go at the speed of light does not decrease. Once the photons go through what ever condition, it will resume back to the speed of light. At a different frequency.