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.