Thursday, October 24, 2013
Travel Faster than Light with the Alcubierre Drive
In 1994, the Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a method of stretching space in a wave which would in theory cause the fabric of space ahead of a spacecraft to contract and the space behind it to expand.[1] The ship would ride this wave inside a region known as a warp bubble of flat space. Since the ship is not moving within this bubble, but carried along as the region itself moves, conventional relativistic effects such as time dilation do not apply in the way they would in the case of a ship moving at high velocity through flat spacetime relative to other objects. Also, this method of travel does not actually involve moving faster than light in a local sense, since a light beam within the bubble would still always move faster than the ship; it is only "faster than light" in the sense that, thanks to the contraction of the space in front of it, the ship could reach its destination faster than a light beam restricted to travelling outside the warp bubble. Thus, the Alcubierre drive does not contradict the conventional claim that relativity forbids a slower-than-light object to accelerate to faster-than-light speeds.
Perhaps in a century or more we may actually be travelling arosss our own solar system, or even the galaxy.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Draconids Meteor Shower
The Draconids meteor shower will be visible to the north from 8-10 October this year. Best viewed just after sunset, look north to Vega in the Lyra constellation, and it will be just to the southwest.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Can Liquid Water Exist on Mars?
I wondered whether water was possible on Mars due to the atmospheric pressure differences from Earth. I wondered whether the pressure differences would cause the freezing point to shift to a lower temperature because of the lower pressure. Apparently, only the boiling point is affected by atmospheric pressure, and the low pressure on Mars causes ice to sublimate directly into a gas (because the boiling point is below the freezing point), so there is no chance of liquid water being discovered on its surface.
WATER ICE Discussion - Mars Rover Blog and Forum
Sunday, August 11, 2013
2013 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: The Existence of Nothing
A very nihilistic title to be sure, but the Asimov debat continues to inspire discourse years later.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Curiosity's Greatest Hits in Its One Year on Mars
"Can you believe it's been a full year since the Mars Curiosity rover made its absolutely spectacular red, dusty landing? Millions watched with bated breath the day that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory began its historical journey. It may have taken everyone's favorite interplanetary robot a little while to get up and running, but once it did, the discoveries kept on coming. Here's a look back at some the more fun, mind-blowing, and all around spectacular of Curiosity's finds in honor of its first martian anniversary."
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