I once tried to contemplate infinity in 6th grade.

A week later, I came to.

I think that once we crack the gravity nut things are going to get much more understandable with regards to space and time. From what we can see now, gravity is a property of matter that is cumulative. The more mass you've got in a space, the more gravity it exerts on other masses. But this might be all just a problem of perspective. What if there is no such thing ass mass as we know it? Maybe what we see as mass is just a local effect caused by an unknown force on matter? If that force can be modified, generated or eliminated all manner of things would be possible. The common belief is that the faster you move the more massive you get to the point of being infinitely massive at the speed of light. This would keep you from being accelerated any faster. Well shit, if mass can be taken out of that formula, light speed could be achieved with even just a small nudge from a dead stop. Distance is really only a matter of perspective. To a crawling infant the distance from the living room to the bathroom os quite a hike. as soon as that child can move faster and more easily that distance is nothing. The same can be said for interstellar distances. If we can travel any distance quickly and easily maybe even what we think of as infinite will change.

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-=- You eat one lousy foot and they call you a cannibal. What a world. -=-

bipedyes. the universe existed for a long time before life started to form, it's silly to think it's now become dependent on life's existence. it always surprises me how many bright people don't see how obvious that is. probably tied in with the human ego and its divide by zero error when we try to contemplate our own non-existence

bipedwhat's the point of a chemical reaction? or friction? or 93 degrees?

FinnNYCi could have any perspective i want on the next closest star and it's still gonna be about 4 light years away, which is far as shit. any chemical propulsion system we have now or that science can currently envision will not do it for us. full bore the space shuttle would get us there in about 40,000 years give or take rest stops. even if we ever did invent some sort of super propellant that would get us up to a decent % of the speed of light, it would take us lifetimes to accelerate up to it. if we accelerated right to it, the human passengers' bodies would be oh so much chunky salsa. the Star Trek universe got around this problem by inventing the little-explained gravitational deflector. we don't have anything like that

i think the real hope for interstellar space exploration is warping spacetime. if an ant has to travel across a piece of paper, it might take a minute or so. if you fold that paper for him so that the point he wants to get to is touching the point he's currently at, it takes him no time at all. if we ever discovered this type of technology, going to alpha centauri wouln't take any longer than going to cleveland. and it would smell better too. discovering it might very well be wrapped up in our cracking quantum gravity. anyone interested in the idea should check out NASA'S breakthrough propulsion program

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what if nigger meant kite

Classic case of science v.s. engineering.

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peddling the funny around since 09/24/2002

mandingo

See?  The universe is too stupid to contemplate its own non-existence, but we aren't.

mandingo

Exactly.

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Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.

mandingo

With little to no mass, a spacecraft could be taken past light-speed easily. Inertia is tied to mass so that wouldn't be a problem either.

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-=- You eat one lousy foot and they call you a cannibal. What a world. -=-

FinnNYC

With little to no mass, a spacecraft could be taken past light-speed easily. Inertia is tied to mass so that wouldn't be a problem either.

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we should get rid of distance instead of mass, that would make the problem even easier. we'd already be wherever we want to be and wouldn't have to deal with the fact that no mass means no propelling ourself through space since Force = the time rate of change of mass times velocity

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what if nigger meant kite

mandingo

With little to no mass, a spacecraft could be taken past light-speed easily. Inertia is tied to mass so that wouldn't be a problem either.

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we should get rid of distance instead of mass, that would make the problem even easier. we'd already be wherever we want to be and wouldn't have to deal with the fact that no mass means no propelling ourself through space since Force = the time rate of change of mass times velocity

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Everyone already knows that the straightest point between two distances is a short line.

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It was such a waste of everyone’s time and money that even the Tokyo stadium’s rape robots apologized– something they were programmed specifically never to do.

mandingo

Imagine that that piece of paper has no edges. Now fold it.

I think it's far more likely we'll see FTL travel long before teleportation (although they could appear to be the same thing depending on your perspective).

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-=- You eat one lousy foot and they call you a cannibal. What a world. -=-

It's all giant space weasels. The sooner you accept it, the happier you'll be.

FinnNYC

My god!  That's brilliant!  You've single-handledly solved the problem of paper cuts!

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peddling the funny around since 09/24/2002

FinnNYC

Imagine that that piece of paper has no edges. Now fold it.

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are you saying it's not possible or are you feeding my own analogy back to me. if it's the latter, glad you agree. if it's the former, go get a beachball and see how hard it is to bend and warp.

is this a new subject or are you equating warping spacetime (which is FTL travel btw) with teleportation? it isn't of course. teleportation is a dematerialization and reconstruction of an object. warping spacetime is just that--warping the "beachball" so that previously separate points coincide. one example is the einstein-rosen bridge, more famously known as a wormhole.

if anyone's interested, there's a good book called "The Physics of Star Trek" by a physicist out at Case Western Reserve University that talks in layman's terms but in detail about the scientific possibility of warp drive and teleportation and all the other fun science they showed when Kirk was getting crayola-box pussy

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what if nigger meant kite

biped

See? The universe is too stupid to contemplate its own non-existence, but we aren't.

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mankind: 1, universe: 0

eric estrada: 32

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what if nigger meant kite

I just assigned mailbox #420 to a kid named Stoner. He'll either love me or hate me.

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what's the point of a chemical reaction? or friction? or 93 degrees?

quote:

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Ahh, I though it was a reference point from which we have to figure out how far we need go (in degrees), and in what direction, to name an appropriately hot Boy Band.

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With little to no mass, a spacecraft could be taken past light-speed easily. Inertia is tied to mass so that wouldn't be a problem either.

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Oops wrong thread. What I meant to say was CAN't YOU GUYS SEE THAT BY US ARGUING OVER THIS THE IMPERIAL REBELS ARE ACTUALLY WINNING?!?!

To the owner of my girlfriends salon:

You should use some spackle and a putty knife to cover up all the pores on your greasy face you fat bitch.

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obscenity filter is off

i will be in pittsburgh on the 4th and 5th for a party.

whoo.

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Kill Whitey.

I am officially married now.

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It was such a waste of everyone’s time and money that even the Tokyo stadium’s rape robots apologized– something they were programmed specifically never to do.

You're in the Army and married?

I have downvoted your comics and your rating to better suit your IQ.

-- red

HCRoyall

Congratulations!

Did you get lots of presents? I'd send you a toaster, but you probably got 12 of them already.

My wedding gift to you is to tell you that I found a turtle in my backyard today while I was feeding my dog.  I think it's the first turtle I've found in my yard since I was a kid.  I was very excited because I think turtles are awesome.  It was sitting on the dirt right outside the reach of my dog's tie-up cable.  I don't know how the heck it got there.  I picked it up and put it farther back in the backyard in the tall grass.  I hope it is able to stay alive.  I imagine there are plenty of bugs for it to eat but I don't know where turtles find water.  I don't know how it got into my backyard because there's a chainlink fence around it.  I would've put it outside the fence but I was afraid it would eventually end up in the street and get run over.  I formed a strong attachment to  it in a very short time and now I miss it.  I'm kind of worried about the turtle but I guess it will be okay.  That is my turtle story, and my wedding gift to you.

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Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.

LOST: One turtle. Likes to eat dogs. Answers to the name of Puddles. WARNING: Puddles will form emotional attachment and then break your heart. If found, check your wallet and silverware...the bastard took me for 20 grand...AND ran off with my hamster.

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Insert Theme to Mannix here

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Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.

I make it rain...

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obscenity filter is off