Last year I posted this very scientific sounding argument that intergalactic travel was pretty much impossible. The gist was that we best not even try, our puny speeds and the phenomenal distances preclude reaching any destination other than the void of space within one's lifetime.
Now, the interesting thing is that I was right, but for all the wrong reasons. That and nary a soul out there thought to challenge me.
So where did my reasoning fail? Turns out I was thinking like Newton, and not Einstein. By Newton, my math was impeccable. But Einstein, had he heard me spout my logic, would have turned in his grave. Via Lorentz contractions, which come from the universal speed of light, the universe in my direction of travel starts to compress like a pancake. That is to say, what used to be 10, 100 or more light years distant, is suddenly much closer. Ergo I get there faster.
But... and there is always a but - there is also this time dilation thing - so that time flows much slower for me - meaning that even if I have the technology, by the time I got back home, I would have missed more than dinner. I would have likely skipped a good number of generations. History would have listed me with a small footnote - "lost in space".
Actually - there is worse. Much worse. We all know space is not very friendly to life, what with a dearth of water and air. But turns out space is downright hostile to life - with cosmic rays and myriad other radations that would certainly cause a *little* problem. Sorta like living under an X-ray machine. Probably not the best for one's health, if you get my meaning. So you say, just add a little shielding... but did you know a meter of lead would not even be close to enough, especially if I am out travelling for years or decades? And if I need to shorten my trip, I go faster, but the faster I go, the more energetic (damaging)these pesky rays get. Catch 22.
So you see, I was right - we best get our jolly's from watching Sci-Fi. Just don't hold me to this, maybe one day someone will discover some fancy physics that will allow what today seems impossible.
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2 comments:
Space travel may be a big waste of time. My theory, there is no life anywhere in the universe except here on earth. How this happened I can not imagine. It almost seems impossible that life ever began.It could almost make one believe in God but then, where did
God come from?
Not sure I agree... about us being the only life. The universe is so implausibly huge the odds would be astronomical that we are the only ones.
That said - if there is life out there, I suspect we will never know. It is etiher too far away in time or space of likeness for us to find.
As far as the waste of time or not, if we are looking for another Earth, or life, than I agree. But near Earth space travel is already a huge boon, and I suspect that if we all survive the next century, we will see some interesting developments along these lines.
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