Scientist Claims Warp Speed Could Happen This Decade

[Vic 17]

A German professor says that NASA has contacted him about a device that would allow faster-than-light travel, claims US Air Force wants to test it.

 

http://www.trektoday.com/news/070106_02.shtml

[APW 0]

Great!

Now humanity can pollute and defile other planets. Maybe even take advantage of less-advanced civilizations, just like with Native Americans, Africans, and Aussie aboriginals.

 

Humans don't deserve the privilege of manned inter-stellar flight until we prove as a species that we can take care of this tiny corner of creation the Lord has seen fit to give us stewardship of.

Edited January 8, 2006 by APW

[Dark Reality 0]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, except without the religion part. But it's always been my belief that if an invading alien race were to come to Earth, we'd be an easy target, seeing as how we're so divided. Before people from this planet go out into space to discover new life, we really ought to be unified. Not necessarily under a "world government" (a concept which scares liberals and conservatives alike), but just in peace. We can stay as we are, individual countries, but certain elements in the US/UK governments who believe in taking over the Middle East need to be removed from power before we go off into space. Basically we need to learn to accept people for their differences. Things like racism and homophobia must all be relics of the past, all but forgotten by modern mankind.

[youbroughtheryouRiker 2]

In that case, I doubt any alien race would want anything to do with our planet, even for conquest. It could pretty much be argued that mankind has never been "ready" for any technological advances that have come along, so why would this one be any different, really? It'll get here when it gets here. I also believe that technology can actually help AID us in the overcoming of social differences.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

I am sceptical that this is actually true - I think we're much further than ten years away from warp technology.

 

And, as far as humans not being at a certain "moral" point to go into space. What makes you think other life in the universe may even have the concept of "morality"? Maybe what's out there eats anything that isn't more powerful than it and has no "moral" reservations about doing so.

 

It reminds me of an episode of the new Twilight Zone that came in in the 80's - the one about humans having a slight tendency for war.

[youbroughtheryouRiker 2]

Exactly, and as far as polluting other parts of the universe, feasibility is one big reason, I would guess, that we haven't made Venus our new dump. Nothing can last much longer than five minutes before being disintegrated completely.

[master_q 0]

Don't believe it for a second. We are not even a Type I Civilization (but we are getting there). We are a Type 0 Civilization. To "go faster-then-light" is impossible. Other means would probably require a Type II or (most likely) higher civilization to be able to manipulate spacetime; which we are not even close to, or really understanding on the Planck scale. Physics currently does not have a finished theory on spacetime at these scales. A prerequisite to travel the stars (at "warp speed") is a developed and finished quantum theory of gravity. (This may be from loop quantum gravity, superstring theory, M-theory, or something else or, possibly, a combination.... e.g. loop quantum gravity and string/M theory takes off as the "third road to quantum gravity.") Despite what a lot of pop-science books say, there is a lot more work to do, to get to quantum gravity. From what I read it seems as the unification theories are once again stuck. It will most likely take another revolution to heat the theories up again (e.g., just like when the string theories involved, in a sense, into M-theory).

 

Once we achieve this kind of technology to travel across the stars (if we are able to do so and do not kill each other beforehand), we will be more then "deserving" to go out into space and better ourselves. If we had the technology and the science right now, we would be more then "deserving" to better ourselves. The best hope we have right now and in the future, are those companies/individuals that are working hard to get into space without the government. They will find stuff to better ourselves (maybe something we could get off the moon, as an example). Government can't do that compared to a free people. Space exploration would create opportunities, as long as the government was out of the picture (but, at most, protecting individual rights). Bettering ourselves in a capitalistic fashion is the most moral thing we could do in space. (This obviously, because of the erroneous definitions of capitalism, does not include the use of force, which is a distinctive socialistic practice and value.)

[Chataeya 0]

Out of curiousity What is your IQ?