- Bungie2
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- Intrepid Mythic Member
We believe that the universe is unbounded: this is not the same as infinite: the 2-D surface of a sphere, wrapped around a 3rd dimension, has a finite size, but has no end. If you start off in a given direction on the surface of a sphere, you could return to your start point without having to turn around -- you simply go all the way around. But wouldn't that mean the universe has an escape velocity like the earth?
Posted by: Scarecrow118
Posted by: Bungie2
Posted by: Scarecrow118
@ B2, that is why I am a huge fan of Sci-Fi, because some of the best is based off modern physics and quantum theories, and actually attempts to explain it in a realistic and believable manner. Plus, a lot of concepts from Sci-Fi are used as inspiration for futuristic developments.
See, plasma shielding and anti-matter is something most people would only believe to exist in sci-fi, but it is being created today.
As to the lightsabre discussion, I would like to point out that future developments would work much more like an energy sword from Halo than the lightsabre as we know it. Light is not a particularly efficient weapon, and there would be no way to contain it in a sword like fashion, as it would act more like a laser.
The energy sword however is plasma contained within a magnetic field. Obviously power generation is a major issue here, but THEORETICALLY it would be more likely than a typical lightsabre.
The plasma shielding is definitely an interesting concept to me, as from all the sci-fi I know, shields are the epitome of a space age culture, and would allow advancement of a dozen different fields of sci-fi. However, as with everything discussed, the major issue is with power generation. Unless major advances are made in the field of power generation, all of this will effectively remain sci-fi, with widespread implementation impossible.
Indeed, very few ideas from Sci-Fi are "absolutely" impossible, as even the U.S.S Enterprise off Star Trek is a type of ship design that is plausible in space, although atomically, there is VERY slight drag from ships passing through hydrogen clouds and such, miniscule, but still accumulative enough to warrant some form of aerodynamic design in the very far flung future. Inevitably, man will have 4 choices in aeronautics:
-Planetary Travel (London to New York)
-Interplanetary Travel (Mars to Titan)
-Interstellar Travel (Sol (Our System) to Sirius)
-Inter-Galactic Travel (Milky Way to Andromeda)
The First two are fairly easy to work around. The third is a complication that can be worked on with Anti-matter, and as I said before, positronic capture is over two hundred thousand times more efficient than the LHC in producing Anti-particles, an orb of pure positronic particles is pretty much all we need for propulsion between stars with of course, the ship being able to contain and efficiently use the fuel so we dont all blow up into hell. Plasma shielding will also ensure we are saved from micrometeoroids and such that would otherwise cause extensive damage at even 10% of c, and with Photochromism, radiation from pulsars and other radiations can be deflected and absorbed, making Space Travel safe.
As for Inter-Galactic Travel, I have the feeling Dark Energy is our biggest ally, but until we see Dark Energy being proven as an existant thing off paper and its properties are studied, for now, Inter-Galactic travel could only be done with either an Alcubierre Drive, Extensive Knowledge of 11-D space, hundreds of years worth of travel through a long enough wormhole via suspended animation during the trip, or generational ships. If we can get this done, perhaps these other, extremely theoretical concepts can be done:
-Inter-Group travel (Travel within the Local Group of Galaxies)
-Intra-Cluster Travel (Travel within our Virgo Supercluster)
-Inter-Clustic Travel (Travel within the Pisces-Cetra Supercluster Complex)
-Interverse Travel (An inevitability if we survive as a species to the dying days of the universe.)
Either way, the initial 3 of the 4 theoretical concepts are, the most extreme forms of travel, and would most DEFINITELY mean that once you travel, don't expect to come home and see Earth as it is when you left. The 4th can be done simply at the point of reaching Planck's Energy in a single point, where the fabric of Spacetime bubbles, and we can literally jump between universes. Either way, those 4 require a truly strong person to handle, all because of Time Dilation effectively wiping everyone that person he loved from Earth, even long before the person made it to his/her destination, unless of course, physical immortality is achieved thanks to technology. I know that if I had the chance to live for billions of years, I'd take it, if only to see mans advances.
But I'm going off topic, back to weaponry. The Energy Sword is no doubt the direction we will head, and in fact, one could say that we are going the paths of the Forerunners off the Halo series, with Energy based weaponry, ever evolving AI, and even World-Building far flung into the year 165,000 or something. Either way, Energy is the future of weaponry,l at least until we get to a Tier 0 stage and produce biotic, living weapons.
To be honest, a Magnetic field is not hard to do, even if the shaping of the field does make it more complex, but that could be fixed if the sword is built around an initial mould, which retracts after use. Plasma is the difficult part about the sword, as the ionisation of matter can be a pain. We do have the tech though, we just need to evolve it.
With Power generation, fusion is inevitably our cheapest answer for plasma shielding and space-travel within this century, with Anti-material coming at a close second. I have no doubt that major advances will be made, it all depends if the funding is available, and of the drive for the future is still prominent.
~B2
Well, on comment about anti-matter capture, would it be theoretically feasible to have a large containment sphere filled with a stable gas, and generate artificial lightning to create this anti-matter? Positrons would then like you say be drawn towards a vacuum sealed chamber and captured with a magnetic field before being "combusted" as it were to generate thrust and power.
As it stands, anti-matter is really the only feasible way to produce thrust in space, due to simple Newtons Laws of Motion. Because space lacks a sufficient medium to act as a propellant, thrust is generated purely by equal and opposite reactions. Unfortunately, any modern fuel sources are too inefficient to constantly provide acceleration, and would likely be immensely hard to come by in space. Anti-matter overcomes this as it can be generated from anything, gases more easily. When they are combusted, it produces a reaction of 100% efficiency, something which is impossible with ANY modern technology, due to simple thermodynamics.
It is feasible to produce artificial lightning, however the problems at this time with positron creation in artificial lightning is still however much more than the pros of it. Even if we could produce lightning clouds, we do not understand it completely, and there are a lot of holes that need to be patched in our understanding of it. Until we understand how positrons form within electrical storms so brilliantly, electrical storms on Planet earth to produce positrons like a factory is far flung into the future. One could also consider generating positrons while in space with a ship that can produce an artificial storm which continually fuels the positronic mass until the source of the electrical storm runs dry, extending the life-span of the anti-matter fuel almost indefinitely.
The only thing closer to Anti-matter is Nuclear Fusion, and with our tech, we could reach maybe 10% of c, but compared to anti-matter, which could thrust us to an immediate 11% of c +, Nuclear fusion is the equivalent of a water wheel vs a dam. I do hope to live to see the day lightning is used in mass-production, if they even consider the idea. Imagine a building with a central chamber in a complete vacuum, with capture technology feeding positrons into magnetic fuel cells high above the earth, ready to be taken. Ive already designed the building myself on paper :P.
~B2