Why Can't we travel faster than the speed of light?

I don't completely understand the focal point of lightspeed travel. Certainly, under conventional physics, it would take an enormous amount of power to do so, and the key might be to utilize existing nuclear reactions rather than onboard "fuel".

What I don't understand is that why we seem boxed in by this desire to exceed lightspeed. Just my opinion, but I think a better focal point would be to perturb the space-time continuum, so as to "travel" great distances quickly -- resulting in an overall "average" speed in excess of lightspeed. There's a fair amount of theoretical physics to support this. Maybe when I have time, I'll wander back through the papers, pick a few applicable ones.

When dealing with infinite quantities, it raises questions that are not currently testable on our little blue marble we call home. Some of these questions might be hinted at with the Atlas program, assuming, of course, that the oddball strangelet isn't produced and turn us all into goooey, supercompacted smush. Yah. That's a scientific term --smush.

Good thought-provoking thread.

i know this is an old topic and i wonder if anyone will ever pick up this debate again, but i remember in 2004 reading an artical out of i think scientific america saying that scientists actually produced faster than light travel of photons by taking the wave out. so that instead of having a wave length they just traveled in a beam, not a laser.
the applications were considerd to be used in such things as future circuit boards and electronics to send information faster or somthing..
anyway upon further reading i found tha the catch to the story was indeed the title, " faster than light travel possible" when in actuality the scientists working on the project actually explained that the light is not moving faster, it is moving smarter. if that makes any sense at all because to me its kind of a mute point. i just thought i would throw in my two well more like 1/2 a cent.
basically by taking a wavelength out creates a more efficient way for light to travel not necessarily faster.

reply to post by Grock

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The definition of acceleration is change in velocity, Newtonion model anyway. So you can't change velosity with out accelerating.

RGS

I believe light is only limited by what is in its path.

Much like how a jet can only go so fast because of the friction from wind in front.

What happens when you turn that wind into a vacuum, and you instead are flying through a vacuum with a jet? Your first thought would be that the wings will no longer work. But, what if the vacuum was a beam, and all around it's edges was air? You could fly like water through an empty pipe.

Clear the path of light, and light will go faster. Do true vacuums exist?

[edit on 20-6-2008 by ALLis0NE]

There was a wonderful short story many years ago by Robert Sheckley (I think) about a group of scientists who invented a way to jump into hyperspace where they could travel faster than the speed of light in this universe because the speed of light in hyperspace would be almost infinitely faster.

The first hyperdrive ship sets out and returns quickly. Upon debriefing the crew, they learn that man is forever trapped on earth. The scientists made a mistake in the equations that the speed of light in hyperspace is slower than in normal space.

OK, so light travels at the speed of light all the time, photons have mass, and doesn't require infinite energy...

I will wait patiently for an explanation on that one.

ALSO: I think there are things moving fatser than light naturally, we just can't see them due to the fact that they are probably going backwards in time.

[edit on 23-6-2008 by smans]

I agree with Einstein..
on this physical plane...that is an objects top speed.

but what if the object was converted to a different type of energy
and then fed into a quantum string/s to be reassembled/ re- converted at the destination?

kinda like the ultimate analog to digital converter...lol
strings operate on resonance and are believed to be able to
send energy in a non-linear fashion...

traveling INFINITE distances instantly with no linear motion,

[edit on 23-6-2008 by Maya432]

From what I've heard is that if you reach the speed of light, you, in theory, turn into light, but that if you were travelling at the speed of light and someone else was travelling slightly slower than the speed of light, you would be perceived not as light, but as you normally looked. I think that is Einstein's theory of relativity. What if you were travelling along side the sun's light, what would you perceive the light to be?

Here is a concept for the physicists to mull over. If it would take more energy than exists in the universe to propel a ship to light speed. If you can efficiently exchange the energy in the motion of light to accelerate mass, then you would have a limitless supply of energy.

An alternative would be to suck all the energy out of a couple of those quantum alternative universes which they are so fond of under the Copenhagen interpretation. Since this physics already violates the second law of thermodynamics by instantiating an entire universe everytime a subatomic choice is made, There is no limit to the power available.

I have no education in this area, but in order to see light, don't you need to be traveling at the same speed?

If I were standing with a person who had a flashlight and a wall was in front of us at 10 ft lets say, and I was told to sprint to the wall before the beam of light could hit it, i would lose, yet my vision wouldn't. My vision would perceive the light before my body could move and my perception would not only beat the light, it would be back to me before the light could shut off having gone no distance.

Perhaps we are overlooking which vehicle actually needs to travel distance since distance is perception and not time and space, the last two being a product of perception. I'm not trying to sound kooky, but maybe we are missing something that is so minor, it blinds us.

We are energy contained within a mass and that mass has a density dependent upon the energy keeping such together.

If it is true that anything with mass can not go faster then light, the how does light itself travel being comprised of particles? A particle is not a particle without mass correct?

Perhaps it is not the mass, but the density of that mass which must be accounted for with the addition of electrons, thus changing the density to a more porous state? If we change the density of the mass, then wouldn't the same mass be able to travel through the perception of its density thus scaling time and space?

Forgive me for any lingo mess ups, I just find it interesting, but am by no means knowledgeable. I was lucky to graduate high school...lol

Peace

we can its called cheating or going around the theories of Einstein

with
Alcubierre drive
and
Quantum tunnelling

Oh and the Elegant Universe was a great series

We can't ever travel faster than the speed of light...

Because if we did we wouldn't be able to see where we were going and we would crash.

Duh

"Back to the Future" confirms, Einstein was a dog, but he was the first to time travel....lol....Peace

That movie has all kinds of hints..

"Wow, this is heavy"...Marty

"Why do you keep saying that, is everything in the future heavier due to the Nuclear fallout"...Doc Brown

"Lorain, you are my DENSITY...I mean my Destiny"...George McFly

"No, no this suckers electrical, but I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 jiggawatts (Gigawatt) of power"...Doc

"Once this sucker hits 88 mph, your going to see some serious sh!t"...Doc...(88 two circles locked in loop same as in Contact)

Maybe we don't need to travel faster then light, maybe we need to slow light down....Peace