Ask questions via twitter! Message any question to @answers on twitter. We'll publish the question and send you a reply each time there's a new answer.
Next Question

Answered Question

 
 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  July 03, 2009 11:38 PM

Interstellar space flight ?

Questions I'd like answered (or just hear conversation) ... kinda random. Feel free to pick up on any of these topics which revolve around physics of space flight.

How will we resolve cosmic radiation and the atrophy humans experience after prolonged exposure to weightlessness?

Is there a relationship between the physics of a black hole & theory of warp bubble?

Would a wormhole also have some of the same traits as a black hole? (negative energy, etc.)

Is there any knowable existence beyond the known dimensions of the universe?

Have a good link to more information about the subject?

Thanx for not being condescending.
Interesting Question?  Yes (4)   No (2)   

Interesting: krysstel, interzone, buddawiggi, badaspie

Uninteresting: drivel, beefymexican

RSS
 
 

Best Answer  Chosen by Asker

 
July 04, 2009 11:17 AM
1. Cosmic radiation can be blocked with suitable materials. The drawback is that shielding adds mass, which increases the spacecraft's fuel requirements.

http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_671.shtml

The physiological effects of prolonged free-fall can be negated by creating acceleration, either through centrifugal force (a rotating crew habitat in which "up" is toward the axis of rotation):

http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/artificial_gravity_and_the_architecture_of_orbital_habitats.shtml

or by accelerating the spacecraft at a constant rate for the duration of the voyage, reversing the thrust direction at the midpoint (note that this requires massive amounts of fuel):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_gravity#Linear_acceleration

2. The theoretical "warp bubble" drive works by expanding and compressing space itself by manipulating "exotic matter," which has a negative energy density.

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Alcubdrive.html

As far as we know, black holes are formed from ordinary matter with a positive energy density and not from dark or exotic matter:

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/03/08/greedy-supermassive-black-holes-dislike-dark-matter/

Therefore, there is no relationship between black holes and warp bubbles.

3. Depending on which theory is correct, wormholes may share characteristics with black holes. In fact, a rotating (Kerr) black hole is predicted to have an internal event horizon, the "other side" of which may be a distant part of the universe or another universe entirely. See my previous answer for more information on Kerr black holes:

http://www.mahalo.com/answers/science-and-mathematics/what-is-a-ring-singularity

4. It is possible that the universe exists in more than three dimensions. String theory suggests that there may be as many as 11 dimensions. The additional dimensions are too small to observe directly, although experiments are under way in an attempt to resolve them.

http://skepticsplay.blogspot.com/2009/02/dimensions-in-universe.html
http://skepticsplay.blogspot.com/2009/02/dimensions-in-string-theory.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081107143616.htm

These extra dimensions would still be part of the observable universe, however. Other universes beyond our own are theoretically possible, but there is no known way to access them (wormholes or Kerr black holes are a theoretical but unproven possibility).
Asker's Rating:


Helpful Answer?  (5)   (0)   

Helpful: buddawiggi, interzone, krusheasy, philipy, brian san

Tip badaspie for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
July 04, 2009 05:10 PM
Comprehensive answer!

Only thoughts I'd like to throw in...

- Wormholes are a speculation. As far as I know there is no evidence they even exist. Though they are at least conceivable.

- Ditto for warp drives and warp bubbles. I'm not sure they even qualify as scientitic speculation, more of a sci fi writer's device like a "positronic brain" i.e. A bit of technobabble that doesn't have any real base in science.

- If we can ever get evidence of the existence of anything outside of the normal dimensions, then those will no longer be unknownable. i.e. Our definition of known universe would be extended. By definiton anything that has any observable effect in the physical universe is part of what is knowable in physics. The only things that would remain "beyond the known universe" are things that do not have any observable physical effect. We would be hard put to claim that such things are even real!

- The most plausible ways to have interstellar travel are doing it the slow way within the bounds of known physics, taking decades to make the trip, or if a non-standard theory of fundamental physics turns out to be correct.

- The best contender for a non-standard model and interstellar travel based on that is Heim's theory of quantum mechanics. Heayweight scientific paper here:

http://www.hpcc-space.de/publications/documents/aiaa2004-3700-a4.pdf

Report
 
 
 
July 04, 2009 05:42 PM
Both of your answers/comments are appreciated and helpful. Thanx.

About the warp bubble not "even qualify as scientitic speculation," ... did you watch the video within my question where a scientist what talking about its plausibility?

And about scientist always needing observations to know if something is real. BAH. Where do they teach you this stuff? LoL. The effect of the universe's existence must have a suitable cause.

"In the very beginning, there was a void, a curious form of vacuum, a nothingness containing no space, no time, no matter, no light, no sound. Yet the laws of nature were in place and this curious vacuum held potential. A story logically begins at the beginning, but this story is about the universe and unfortunately there are no data for the very beginnings--none, zero. We don't know anything about the universe until it reaches the mature age of a billion of a trillionth of a second. That is, some very short time after creation in the big bang. When you read or hear anything about the birth of the universe, someone is making it up--we are in the realm of philosophy. Only God knows what happened at the very beginning."

Leon Lederman - The God Particle

Report
 
 

Other Answers (4)

Sort By
 
July 03, 2009 11:42 PM
As far as cosmic radiation is concerned, a magnetic shield will probably be necessary. Here is a link;

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081104-magnetic-shield.html

Helpful Answer?  (4)   (0)   

Helpful: krusheasy, interzone, buddawiggi, defolts

Tip morriss003 for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
July 03, 2009 11:53 PM
I love the idea of interstellar space flight it seems necessary for long term survival of our species.
Source(s):
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/06/11/warp-drive-engine.html


Helpful Answer?  (4)   (0)   

Helpful: krusheasy, krysstel, interzone, defolts

Tip buddawiggi for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
July 04, 2009 12:01 AM
The first step?... space tourism!
Source(s):
http://www.incredible-adventures.com/about_us.html


Helpful Answer?  (4)   (0)   

Helpful: interzone, buddawiggi, defolts, brian san

Tip krysstel for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
July 04, 2009 12:07 AM
I have reached my daily answer rating limit. I don't like limits 8(
But thanx for the contribution 8D

Report
 
 
 
July 04, 2009 01:06 AM
Tourism is a great start @krysteel I could not agree more

Report
 
 
 
July 04, 2009 12:17 AM
Here is a link to an old BBC Science & Technology article which discusses Warp drive:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/364496.stm

Although they don't mention black holes, the proposed solution involves distorting spacetime around a spaceship, which implies huge concentration of mass, in effect, a black hole, or a similar object.

Tags: black-holes, warp-drive, spacetime

Helpful Answer?  (3)   (0)   

Helpful: buddawiggi, defolts, krusheasy

Tip interzone for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 

Answer this Question

How tips and payments work

This question has already been resolved. You may add an answer to it but you will not be eligible to win best answer or any associated tips.

Ask a Question


140 characters left
Top of Page
Buy Mahalo Dollars with Credit Card or PayPal

Top Members

This Week All Time
  • buddawiggi
    buddawiggi
    2nd Degree Black Belt
    25027 Points
    M$701.03 Earned
  • cfinke
    cfinke
    2nd Degree Black Belt
    23219 Points
    M$29.75 Earned
  • unwirklich
    unwirklich
    Purple Belt
    2323 Points
    M$131.55 Earned
   See All
 

Most Popular Tags

mahalo(1398)
iphone(449)
music(435)
google(324)
food(290)
beer(267)
online(266)
money(246)
apple(239)
movies(235)
aotd(233)
health(197)
video(196)
free(190)
dog(188)
   See All
 

Categories

Welcome New Members


 
 
Mahalo Dollars are the currency of Mahalo Answers.

Each Mahalo Dollar costs $1.

Once you earn more than 40 Mahalo Dollars, you can request to be paid via PayPal. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. Learn More

 
 

Please log in to use this function.