Simplest answer is , as matter approaches the speed of light, mass goes infinite.

Light, or photons, are both a wave and matter at the same time.

I suspect this is how it is able to do so.

what about the speed of thought.

I think an Idea can travel faster than the speed of light, Our bodies operate at extraordinary speeds.

[edit on 3-11-2009 by 10001011]

I still think light is 1 seconds to late to be the fastest source.

Light needs 1 second to travel 299,792,458 meters. That cant be infinite fast. Infinite would mean it would be there in zero seconds.

I don't see why people associate light with time. Just because light hasn't reached a certain point in the universe doesn't mean that the events that are giving off this light haven't happened yet. Everything happens at the same time in the universe.

It's like back in the old days when we had no radios or televisions and information traveled slowly by word of mouth. I would take days or weeks before you've heard of some event happening, doesn't mean it didn't happen yet.

Also if you were moving at the speed of light, sure it would seem like time was standing still because the same light particles would be hitting your eyes, but doesn't mean that time is actually standing still (like running at the same speed as a moving bus).

Now I'm no scientist and don't take astronomy or any hardcore math so this is all just my basic understanding and interpretation o:

well if we did go the speed of light we would have infinite mass and would need infinite energy which if an object had infinite mass at that speed it would create it's own gravitational field so strong it would become a black hole which then we would just become a sigularity. Which then who know mabey these sigularities are qutumly tangled so we come out some where else in space! but i think that traverling time through speed is not really an effcient way to travel from point A to B best way would be use gravity or Alcubierre drive like Arbitrageur said

Originally posted by 10001011
what about the speed of thought.

I think an Idea can travel faster than the speed of light, Our bodies operate at extraordinary speeds.

[edit on 3-11-2009 by 10001011]

The action potential in nerve fibers has a speed of about 110 m/s.
In order to comprehend some stimulus, you need hundreds of miliseconds.

But if you mean thinking about being on Earth and then suddenly about being on Mars, then it is almost infinite, of course.. But in reality, you didnt move anywhere

I didn't read every post so this might have already been mentioned. Even if we could go even the speed of light the time dilation effects would render it useless for interstellar travel. We have to make it so time will still travel at Earth speed, that way what takes one man a year doesn't take the earth a lifetime.

I personally believe space bending or perhaps the ftl transfer of quantum information will be the method used for extrasolar travel.

Also, what many people dont realize is that we can travel "faster than light" from a traveller´s point of view.
For example, you want to travel to a star that is 20 light years away. If you travel at the speed of light, stationary observer would see your journey took 20 years. But from your point of view, the journey would take far less than that (maybe few months, depends on the kinetic energy), because since you are aproaching c, your time contracts (relativistic time dilation)..
With enough kinetic energy, you could travel across the whole galaxy in a single lifetime. But for the stationary observers (Earth), thousands of years would pass during the journey.

Well from what I gather, you need to have No mass to be able to travel faster then Light, But i think this is where other Civilizations have said well if we can't beat em lets join em. how else can a object of dense mass be able to travel faster than light?

Kinda like surfing, if your out there and a big wave is coming up on you and you have no speed to swim over it, you go through it.

Once a Civilization needs to go faster than light, thats the point in time they start working on Bending space/time.

they had a good show on the history channel, Called " The Universe " and they have talked about creating a bubble ( so to speak ) around your craft, and bending the space in front and behind of the craft essentially moving them faster than the speed of light while they aren't actually moving that fast inside their manipulated bubble.

Anything's possible, but we'll never be able to get enough energy behind us to be able to accelerate to and pass that point.

On a personal note, I'm totally good with walking at normal speed to wherever I need to go, but if we absolutely insist upon going at light speed to our various destinations, we had better get a move on and become a type III civilization so we can get on with it.

I believe we can actually faster than the speed of light. Why? well let's say you're on a spaceship that goes 1mph away from the speed of light, then, you throw a ball in the same direction the ship is going at a speed of 30mph, the ball would surpass the speed of light by 29mph, don't you agree?

Some say that the faster we go, the more we will take mass and that's the reason we can't go faster than the speed of light, because the energy it takes to move us is never enough to push us beyond that speed. The closer from the speed of light we get, the heavier we get, and the harder it is to be propelled faster. According to this theory, if we push on a wall with our body, we need to push against the floor to make that effort. The floor and the wall, resisting our attempt, pushes our limbs back and stops further movements which would result in destroying the wall/floor. If we rely on Einstein's theory, the wall, the floor and us would take mass and energy enlessly and so much that we would and up weighting up to a hundred tons... does that make any sense? that's why i deny this theory.

The reason i deny this theory is because no mass or energy is ever lost, ever created, it's transfering from one to another. Let's say you float in space, then you throw a ball, Einstein would say that the ball gains energy and weight. But what happens to you? even if the weight of the ball is really small compared to you, you will still get propelled backward. Does that mean you're gaining mass and energy as well? No because it would come against the above rule.

To maintain the same speed in space where there are no atmosphere it requires no energy, to accelerate though, energy must be spent.

Let's confirm what i say:
Spaceship with internal fuel: To accelerate, the ship would burn the fuel, the fuel would propel the ship by sending energy backward and in fact, the ship would become lighter this way.

Spaceship with external fuel: lets say the ship fuel itself by pumping into the ''dark matter''. The ship would pump energy from the external source, to redirect it backward. The mass gain would be lost in the process.

Sorry if this wasn't maybe really clear. I'd like any of your opinion on what i think.

Light speed travel is very possible, it just requires that you move in short 'jumps' rather than continuous travel, Simplest way to power a 'ship' designed to travel in such a way is with an 'engine' that is powered by innertia (think along the lines of kinetic powered watches), as the immense forces applied to the 'ship' when it first starts its 'jump' and when it exits the 'jump' will be sufficient to power the jumps themselves

however that form of travel is very inefficient (for distance covered & practicality) when compared to forms of slower travel