THOUGHTS FROM A COMMON MAN
News and comment LATEST: Is Britain heading the race to warp speed? … PLUS … What to do about Iran? Education is failing so many.
POSTED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY – from a real voice of Britain and the world.
TOWARDS WARP SPEED
No, this is not a review of Star Trek. Rather, it is an examination of the possibility of real faster than light travel. And if you think this has nothing to do with the news, then think again.
This week sees the British Interplanetary Society holding a conference to discuss the possibilities of a warp drive, thus making travel to the stars a real possibility. Physicists will be attending from all over the planet – arriving by conventional means, of course.
Einstein showed that nothing can travel faster than light.
But this does not theoretically preclude tampering with the space that disallows it. Essential would be an anti-gravity device which bends a small region of space and time around a possible star ship.
This would cause space behind the craft to warp, and collapse the space in front, similar to a black hole. Theoretically, this takes the craft out of spacetime, allowing speeds greater than the speed of light.
Of course, it is pure science fiction.
But it is only so because we have not seriously considered the possibilities. Science fiction has an amazing habit of, not only coming true, but under-estimating what we are capable of as a technological species.
And often, the reason why this is so is because science can be too pessimistic concerning its own discipline. They should have more confidence in themselves in this area. And not only because of star travel itself.
The human race is so often at war with itself, but how much of this is due to the fact that we have no common reason to be as one? I can see no greater reason for cohesion than the planet itself reaching out to others, with mankind becoming the explorer of star systems.
© Anthony North, November 2007
A NUCLEAR IRAN
Following a new report on Iran’s nuclear activities, the US has vowed to work towards further sanctions, with the menacing possibility of military action if the situation is not resolved …
… read more …
DEFINING EDUCATION
David Cameron is going for the popular vote by saying all six year olds in the UK should be able to read. This is a PR stunt of callous proportions, for the simple fact is no education system ever has, or ever could, achieve this …
… read more …
Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Inde-Pol
BEYOND THE BLOG 