"A voyage of 100,000 years"

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Willem


No, light contains photons which have a very slight mass. When they connect with a sail, they would push the craft forward.

nope

photons have no mass

they do have momentum though, and carry energy

Jon Miller

[Willem]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
no they aren't

fusion power is not economical at the moment

and I have made a Superconductor (Type 2, but ....)

Jon Miller

OK, let me restate that. Theoretical on a practical level. Of course superconductors might be able to function in the cold of space. What is it now, the temperature of liquid helium before they actually work? That might be feasible in a space ship, but there's still to many problems with fusion power.

[Ned]

Somehow I believe we will use the so-called dark matter that occuppies space. We will gather that in, accerlerate it, and keep the pedal to the metal the whole distance. If it takes only six years to Alpha Centauri at one g constant accelleration and deceleration, it would take only three years at two g's. This sounds to me more than doable. We actually may be able to do this within the next 100 years.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Jon Miller

photons have no mass

Well I admit I'm no physicist, but I seem to recall that photons can be considered both matter and energy, depending on how you conduct the experiment. And since matter has mass...

[Willem]

Originally posted by Ned
If it takes only six years to Alpha Centauri at one g constant accelleration and deceleration, it would take only three years at two g's.

Except that someone mentioned that it takes light 4.3 years to reach AC, and nothing can travel faster than light. Provided Einstein was right of course.

[Ned]

Willem, Now you got me thinking. Is this time measured from the spaceship or from Earth?

[Willem]

Originally posted by Ned
Willem, Now you got me thinking. Is this time measured from the spaceship or from Earth?

From Earth I imagine. I'm just going by a previous post and presuming that the estimate is correct. On the spaceship, relative time would slow down as you approach the speed of light, so 4.3 years might seem like only 2 for people on the spaceship. I don't know the exact calculation of that difference though. Like I said, I'm no physicist.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Willem


OK, let me restate that. Theoretical on a practical level. Of course superconductors might be able to function in the cold of space. What is it now, the temperature of liquid helium before they actually work? That might be feasible in a space ship, but there's still to many problems with fusion power.

type 2 superconductors can work at as high of temperatures as120 K

helium is of course 4k

lots of prolbems with fusion, that is true

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Willem


Well I admit I'm no physicist, but I seem to recall that photons can be considered both matter and energy, depending on how you conduct the experiment. And since matter has mass...

photons are both particles and waves (There is duality there)

and mass and energy are related by Einstein, E=mc^2

and light can also bend space-time

(I am a physicist (in training), but my understanding of GR is limited)

but lgiht does not have mass as we know it (as in photons have 0 rest energy)

E^2 = (mc^2)^2 + (pc)^2

for photons, E = pc

in fact, only if m = 0, may the particle travel at c

Jon Miller

[Odin]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
nope

photons have no mass

they do have momentum though, and carry energy

Jon Miller

Matter is just condensed energy, they are one in the same acording to quantum mechanics. If they are particles of matter, Fermions, or particles of energy, Bosons, depends on thier quantum "spin."

[Jon Miller]

WTF?

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

you have some huge misconceptions about physics

I would recommend a class in college (if you are of the right age demographic)

if you are no longer in college, and not interested in going back

Feynman's Lecture series on Physics is good (it is a 3 part and covers Mechanics, E&M and intro Quantum Mechanics)

Jon Miller

[Willem]

Originally posted by Odin


Matter is just condensed energy, they are one in the same acording to quantum mechanics. If they are particles of matter, Fermions, or particles of energy, Bosons, depends on thier quantum "spin."

So theoretically, we could convert the space ship (matter) into light, travel to AC in 4.3 years, then convert the energy back into matter again if we can learn to control that spin.

Another theory I've read regarding quantum physics is the possibility of creating a wormhole, and travelling between two points in the universe simultaneously. The article I read though said it would probably require the amount of energy produced by a super-nova in order to do it.

[Jon Miller]

umm, Willem, Odin doesn't have a clue about what he is talking about

Jon Miller

[Odin]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
WTF?

Jon Miller

I'm 17 and I just stumped a Physics Major. Read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkins to see what I'm talking about.