What would happen at 670,616,640 MPH?

Yes, you're correct. This is a basic statement that shows that it's possible to travel to the future, ultimately. Unfortunately until now no theory exists that allows to travel to the past.

Well, MPH is a standard measurement of distance, it can be applied anywhere. However, you don't measure the distance between your home and your work in angstroms, do you? It's just not usefull.

Unfortunately, as long as I remember have studied it in university, at 1 C you still would spend some time to travel trhough the universe, because you are at 1C, and the rest of the universe is not. THe distance and time are perceived differently, because it depends on the reference system you take. It's tricky I know, but, as you started this discussion, keep your mind opened.

Well, have you seen the movie called "Event Horizont", or something like this? One more terrible piece of pop art full of common places. However, with some interesting ideas, if you take apart the fact they're most probably impossible to occur even in the far future: A ship that travels creating it's own black hole. Actually, it would curve the space-time, and jump in this universe fold to other part of the universe almost instantly. It is not that the ship accelerates, it's the space-time that is compressed, and is not by ship speed, but by a gravitational singularity.

I'm too lazy to post equations here, I think it's better keep it in the cofee break scale. If you like some calculation, there's the very basic introductory series of physics books by Halliday-Resnick, in this case vol.4. I remember because it took me some beers to accept. You can also look for the Stephen Hawking books, "A Brief Story of Time" and "The Universe in a Nut". I apologize if they're not correct, I just remember the names in portuguese, and these are free translations.

But let's see what the other guys here have to post.

Thanks for the information. I understand the principals of black holes and the singularity from some astronomy and physics classes I took before turning toward material science.

I'd imagine if someone were to try and use gravity to bend space to jump between points, it would need to be done in such a manor where this person is not effected by the singularity. Otherwise they would be ripped apart by the acceleration. ...and I don't understand how that could be made possible.

One thing I didn't think of when travelling under conventional means is the time it would take to accelerate and decelerate comfortably. It would take a little over 3 months to reach 1C with an acceleration of 3g's.

I also see a great marketable business in sending people into the future. Unfortunately there is no way to know if they ever got there.

Well, that's an advantage... 0% complains from customers... from a certain point of view, it can be really easy to send people to the future (and charge for it). If not the future, maybe to another (better) world... hehehe.

Interesting subject. I attempted similar conversation in an IRC chat room ...

I concluded, speed is what we perceive it ...

Therefore our time to be (future) to something greater, could be distance already traveled.

future guessed are facts knowing results, at the speed we attain them....

If we are supreme.. why are seemingly outrageous premonitions we may have coming true so scary? We fear not knowing, hence the science bordering weirdness.

Whoever came up with that number for light is theorizing.. and human.. and perceiving it the way it was perceived by human.

The conversation narrowed down to: there is a God and we are built for our environment...

Else these conversations would be ridiculous, as we reigned supreme over all we see accurately, distance never being an equation but a destination acheivable.

Another thing this conversation led to..

If we are measuring light from a distance to destination and calculating the speed,We are faster due to our point of view...watching and measuring like little gods.Why are we wondering how fast that really is when we have looked and measured, and to know darn well it isn't time itself...

I still can't help but laugh at this question.

Something is laughing at us all... I can feel it...

I once read a story about Douglas MacArthur (or some other cadet at West Point).

The physics professor told them to study Einstein's Theory of Relativity. The cadet, unable to understand what he'd been reading, chose to memorize it instead. Called to describe the theory in class, he recited it word for word.

When he had finished, the professor was silent for a minute or so. Then he asked, "do you understand anything about what you just said"?

The cadet replied, "No, sir".

The professor, looked at his student, nodded his head and said, "neither do I. You may sit down".

'Nice to know that there are people (and professors) like me .

I've had a few of those moments. It's frustrating when you know and understand your own personal human limitations.

The 'speed' of light isn't a speed limit because it's constant to all observers regardless of their speed. The speed of light is just a maximum observable speed. As an observer on the earth sees a space ship approch c, he would also see time on the ship pass slower. He isn't seeing the ship move in real time but in slow motion so, he's only seeing the ship move at a fraction of it's actual speed. Likewise, an observer on the ship wouldn't notice any changes in his own time or energy or mass even after his instruments have indicated that his ship has accelerated well beyond c. But, looking back at the earth, he would see time on the earth pass faster. The observer on the ship would see the entire universe around him morph as his acceleration alters his time/mass/energy relationship to everything in the universe.

"Speed" is a measurement. It is not in and of itself a changer of dimensions. If I was to travel at .9999999C, for one year in one direction and one year back, I'd be two years older. (One year is the amount of TIME it take the earth to revolve around the sun one time.)

Distance on the other hand it a completely different matter. If was to travel at .999999c for one year, I'd have gone a long way. (one light year away.)

Keep it simple, it's easier to understand that way.

This is not necessarily true, it is dependant upon the observer measuring the time. If you measure the 1-year you travel versus an observer on the earth measuring it.

Are we now going to make up rules as we go? The earth takes 365 and 1/3 days to complete one orbit. If I'm traveling at .99999c, are you now going to try to tell me that this will somehow change the earth's orbit? If you want to use some other method to measure time, then all bets are off, you can make up anything you want. But weather I'm standing on the earth, or traveling through space, one year will be measured by one complete orbit of the earth. During that time, I distance I travel will be divided by the time and result is "Speed."

If the observer is standing on earth and watching me travel at .9999999c then first, he's pretty good, cause that's fast, but it doesn't change the time it takes the earth to orbit the sun. One year later, I'll be one year older and one light year from earth.

If I turn around and head back to earth, it will take me one year, (one orbit of the earth) to get back to earth, provided I can maintain the same speed. And guess what? I'll have covered the same distance.

Yes, it would change the earth's orbit. As you accelerate, you would see the earth spin faster and orbit the sun faster. A year by the clocks on earth would be shorter than a year by the clocks on your ship. If you go by the clocks on the earth, you will travel for less than a year by the clocks on your ship. If you go by the clocks on your ship, you will travel for more than a year by the clocks on the earth. Either way, when you get back to earth you will not have aged as much as everyone else.

That's a good illustration of how time dilation works.

The universe must be impressive at speed. I'd imagine navigating could be tricky as the faster you travel the faster the catching up of your perspective visuals become.

See my comment above. By the way, did you ever watch Abbot and Costello multiply 13 X 7? They get 27 every time. Very funny bit. Your math reminds me of that.

"Your math reminds me of that."

Please explain?

Hi Guest. All this is only hypothetical anyway. As we can only theorise about this subject we can only guess what happens, anything else is bullshit. As far as I know nobody has travelled at these speeds, when it happens, then we will know for sure. Until then I do not believe a anything!!!!

Scapolie -

No people have traveled at near-lightspeed (as far as I know), but the particles at Fermilab do it all the time. And the mass increases, just like Einstein said it would: it takes more and more force to bend the particle stream. And time dilates, too! We can tell, because short-lived particles live a lot longer when they're traveling fast. So these are real, measurable effects, not just hypotheses.

OH this is so simple- Every married woman knows the answer to this one. They all know that if a man stood at the frontier of boundless space blasting along at your 670,616,640 speed, and shouted into the vastness at the top of his lungs and there were no women around to hear him, ...... he would still be WRONG.

human body was not built to travel at the speed of light

and would deteriorate away

prove me wrong

Speed isn't a problem; the human body performs very nicely at high speeds.

Acceleration, though - THAT'S a problem! Getting to light speed requires either a very high acceleration or a very long time. Either option is quite harmful to the human body.