Recent content by Roo

Thanks for all the answers gents. I have to add that this thread was purely out of interest. I know that a modern system is much the obvious choice - I just wanted to know whether the 'idea' was possible at all, even if highly un-necessary! Thanks - my childhood visions are still safe...

Any takers? Or is this a question for the engineering boys and girls? Roo.

I have a question that I would like to ask. Assume you have two people at the exact same age, one on Earth and one on Neptune. Neptune man steps into his spacecraft and accelerates to .999c and sits back with a good book to while away the roughly 4.25 hour journey to Earth, covering around...

Chaps, Thanks for your answers here, most helpful - and insightful. Roo.

The jury is out? Oh! Why is that? I'm curious... I'm not saying that I do/don't accept that space-time is curved. It's just that a notion like this sounds a little...well, odd. I'm not a physicist (though I have studied it) nor a mathematician (though, again I have studied it by having an...

Hey all, Thought I'd post this here as it is a little tricky trying to get a straight answer from the boys and girls of theory over at the GR/SR section without causing havoc of some kind. It seems to be fairly well accepted that space-time is curved. So maybe someone here can answer the...

Wow - what an awesome response. Still, I fully stand behind my opinion but look forward to seeing if I'm right or wrong some day! Though one theory has been proved right without doubt tonight - that being if anyone gives an opinion on a believed established fact (even one based on nothing...

Correct - this is a science forum. But without challenging even 'proved' theories, many scientific truths would still remain hidden. But please don't mistake the challenging of theories (even highly regarded ones) as a lack of intelligence or even worse, ignorance. Challenging long held...

Thanks for the answers so far gents. But could I ask, irrepective of them and more out of general curiosity now, could nuclear 'waste' still power an installation if the level of waste was large enough? Roo

Dear all, When I was a nipper, my favourite TV show was 'Space 1999' - anyone remember that? Anyway, I think the main reason why I liked it (aside from Barbara Bain and Catherine Schell) was because a lot of the technology portrayed had a sense of realism to it, which in the 70's didn't seem...

Does anybody else think this whole aging/time dilation situation is just a bit too far fetched, irrespective of whatever is in GR/SR and experiments (and yes, I have read about all the experiments with atomic clocks and muons etc)? How can time 'slow down' just because of a very high speed...

Yes - I couldn't agree more about gravity affecting things. Living on planet Earth kind of proves this amply! And yes, I've heard of gravitational lensing - but surely the gravity of a massive object is only bending the image of a real object - and as such, the object in question is still...

Some very interesting comments here. Will faster than light travel ever be a practical occurrence - well, who can rightly tell? Certainly it is not feasible for mankind to explore beyond our own solar system without it though. It certainly is mind boggler - but as has always been told to me...

Dear all, Thanks for the varied responses - most interesting. I therefore have some questions I'd like to ask. I've looked for answers in numerous books etc yet no-one can seem to give a simple straight answer - so maybe you can help! 1) What exactly is space-time? (as practical as you...

Hello everyone, The topic of superluminal flight has intrigued me for decades but coming from an engineering background and not a strong physics background (although I have studied physics), I am finding the notions about how to possibly achieve such a system quite difficult to accept. In...