if i could run faster than the speed of light...

[Darkwood]

The big bang is a massive misconception in our day to day thinking, there was no sound as such that is just a biological development billions of years later by the evolution to feel differences in pressure waves, there was a great expansion as we still have recorded evidence to show that in the background radiation, remember light is radiation too so just like light in out visual range then all the spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation can supply us with so much more info than we can visually see, the 'big bang' so far is the only model to explain our observations but we can only get to a few atto seconds of the beginning and in quantum terms that leaves so much room for theories so we still do not kn0w and may never.
You must also remember as most mix this up is there are scientific established theories and scientific progressive thories, the estblished ones are as strong if not stronger than scientific laws, the progressive theories are to be taken with a pinch of salt.

 

[Intoelectrics]

There are many misconceptions in science made by the general public due mainly to sci-fi movies and poor terminology (or rather mis-interpreted terminology) The "big bang" is a classic example, the current model suggests that the universe began from a single point "singularity" and this point began to expand extremely rapidly. This is what the term - big bang - describes, but it was not an explosion per-say. This is the moment ( if you can actually term it that way) that space, time and the entire universe came into existence. But even this can be confusing because we can then ask "where did the singularity come from, and why did it suddenly start to expand?" The late Professor Hawking theorized that the universe began from "nothing". This in itself is mind blowing, counter intuitive and still way out for discussion. But what we must understand is that the current "laws of nature" were born at the same time as the universe was. What governed before, or even if there was a before as we understand it, is and most likely never to be known.

As Darkwood has mentioned previously, this thread is based on a sci-fi premise. Our current understanding and theories of science explicitly state that FTL (faster than light) is not possible, at least by any form of mass and most likely any form of information.

We can therefore come up with fun ideas about what would happen if you could go faster than light.

My take is that, based on time dilation and space contraction (from current scientific theories) once you achieve the speed of light time and space contract to zero. Thus there is nowhere to run and no time to do it.

Like Darkwood I'm passionate about cosmology and astrophysics there are some excellent forums on the inter-web where questions like these can be discussed in great detail and are very informative.

 

[static zap]

...particle been in 2 places at once and directly influence each other regardless of distance seems totally illogical but logic has to be sidetracked to appreciating the quantum world and trying to understand it.

My understanding was improved by discovering ,
Q Bit computer modeling was more RF (radio-wave based) Resonance ..and statistical answers .
A bit like that washing machine with Fuzzy logic !

 

[Squid]

yeah, the universe is certainly a strange place

Especially the one you live in ;o))))))))

 

[Darkwood]

Einstein did the unthinkable, he change the very way we look at space and time, simple thought experiments seem to break the laws of physics so he changed the whole model itself to fit the answer.
If I stand on a train going at 100mph and turn its headlights on then logic would suggest the light must be travelling at the speed of light + 100mph, it was thought experiments like this that niggled Einstein because they defied the laws of physics that seemed to otherwise work very well for us, he made the leap of suggesting that if the light is capped at its known value then one of the other values in the equation must be a variable, obviously now we know the answer but in those days imagine trying to tell people that time does not flow the same for everything it was a crazy notion and took many yrs for him to resolve due to believe it or not 'his poor maths skills' and a basic error he made, took him yrs to see the error but once he realised it it changed physics forever and mankinds future.

 

[Intoelectrics]

Einstein did the unthinkable, he change the very way we look at space and time, simple thought experiments seem to break the laws of physics so he changed the whole model itself to fit the answer.
If I stand on a train going at 100mph and turn its headlights on then logic would suggest the light must be travelling at the speed of light + 100mph, it was thought experiments like this that niggled Einstein because they defied the laws of physics that seemed to otherwise work very well for us, he made the leap of suggesting that if the light is capped at its known value then one of the other values in the equation must be a variable, obviously now we know the answer but in those days imagine trying to tell people that time does not flow the same for everything it was a crazy notion and took many yrs for him to resolve due to believe it or not 'his poor maths skills' and a basic error he made, took him yrs to see the error but once he realised it it changed physics forever and mankinds future.

Though he admits to making errors (after all he was human) I think its a fable that his math skills were poor. He may not have been as proficient as some of his peers but he was far from being "poor" at math. He was already doing calculus and algebra at the age of 15 far in advance of his years. In his school he excelled in math and physics but struggle with biology and a few other subjects.
I agree though that his theory which turned physics on its head was probably the greatest revelation in the history of mankind. I've studied quite a lot over the years on GR & SR (general & special relativity) and it still blows my mind.

 

[telectrix]

but what has this relativity theory changed? the earth still orbits the sun, along with other lumps composed of various substances, there's no definite proof that aliens have visited, the moon is still made of cheese, and if the earth stopped rotating, we'd all be flung into outer space.

 

[Darkwood]

@Intoelectrics I was meaning in the context of his standing, he was a theoretical physicist foremost and found the mathematics more a burdening task, he would often have his assistants help out on this side of his theoretical work, there is some old debate as to how much his first wife herself a mathematician helped out in the development of his early theories, there is evidence on both side of this debate as to how much she input but I truly believe if it wasn't for her he may not have developed some of his theories as they would often support each other and rise off it.
Yes I agree in our measure of maths he was a genius as shown by his formulas but in his own mind he classed it as his achilles heal hence I put it in apostrophes to highlight the irony in his thinking, I wasn't stated he was poor at maths but yes it does read out with a bit of ambiguity.

 

[elsparko]

thats why whenever i say "big bang" i use the 2 little fellas at the start and end

how much do you want to bet that if someone figures out how to harness a suns energy that it will be turned into a weapon.

 

[Darkwood]

The only issue with nuclear fusion as a energy source is the temperatures needed to maintain it (millions of degrees), this probably would not see it turned into any practical kind of weapon but it may but used to supply infinite power to future weapons like ground based lasers or rail guns where power supply is a limiting factor to the technology so in that sense then yes.

 

[telectrix]

thats why whenever i say "big bang" i use the 2 little fellas at the start and end

how much do you want to bet that if someone figures out how to harness a suns energy that it will be turned into a weapon.

it could be. a reflector dish in orbit, concentrating the sun's rays ( like a magnifying glass setting fire to dry grass, we all done it as kids ). track gps location of target and fry it.

 

[elsparko]

it could be. a reflector dish in orbit, concentrating the sun's rays ( like a magnifying glass setting fire to dry grass, we all done it as kids ). track gps location of target and fry it.

hitler wanted to build a parabolic mirror on the moon to fry entire cities on earth

 

[JK-Electrical]

Amusing ......

Time traveller who claims he is from the year 6491 'passes lie detector test'

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/time-traveller-who-claims-year-12640992

 

[telectrix]

bloody true that. jamie oliver has come out with so much crap about healthy eating, he has to be an alien.

 

[Intoelectrics]

@Intoelectrics I was meaning in the context of his standing, he was a theoretical physicist foremost and found the mathematics more a burdening task, he would often have his assistants help out on this side of his theoretical work, there is some old debate as to how much his first wife herself a mathematician helped out in the development of his early theories, there is evidence on both side of this debate as to how much she input but I truly believe if it wasn't for her he may not have developed some of his theories as they would often support each other and rise off it.
Yes I agree in our measure of maths he was a genius as shown by his formulas but in his own mind he classed it as his achilles heal hence I put it in apostrophes to highlight the irony in his thinking, I wasn't stated he was poor at maths but yes it does read out with a bit of ambiguity.

I figured you would know this already, (my apologies for miss interpreting your post) its obvious you know are passionate about this subject. My post wasn't intended as a criticism of your post but rather just to point out to those who don't know much about Einstein that it is a miss-conception that he was hopeless at math.

 

[Intoelectrics]

but what has this relativity theory changed? the earth still orbits the sun, along with other lumps composed of various substances, there's no definite proof that aliens have visited, the moon is still made of cheese, and if the earth stopped rotating, we'd all be flung into outer space.

More than most realize, people go about their daily lives unaware that without the understanding of Einstein's theory of relativity much of the technology we rely on would not be possible.

I often suspect there are aliens among us, you only have to look at Donald Trump and Simon Cowel

Actually the Earth's rotation makes us weigh slightly less than we would if it didn't spin, centrifugal force lifting us off the surface of the Earth. We would be slung into space if the Earth lost its gravity.

 

[Darkwood]

I figured you would know this already, (my apologies for miss interpreting your post) its obvious you know are passionate about this subject. My post wasn't intended as a criticism of your post but rather just to point out to those who don't know much about Einstein that it is a miss-conception that he was hopeless at math.

No apologies needed, I made an ambiguous comment tbh so should have worded it better, yes you are correct about the misconception and probably down to people like myself posting ambiguous comments .

 

[marconi]

Re #76 - Actually the Earth's rotation makes us weigh slightly less than we would if it didn't spin, centrifugal force lifting us off the surface of the Earth.

You might want to think again on what you wrote above, remembering that the weight W of an object with mass m in the Earth's gravitational field is W= G Mm/rsquared

where M is the mass of the earth, G the Gravitational constant and r is distance between the centres of mass of M and m..

 

[Darkwood]

@marconi
He is actually correct but the spin of the earth is so slow relative to its size that we couldn't perceive it, at the equator the effect would be 0.35% diminishing the further away from the equator you ventured.
Your formula is correct but is only applicable if other forces are not acting on the subject matter, the rotation of the earth does in fact counter the gravitational effect of the earth at the equator and is why it has a bulge of approx 20miles but on the scale of things this is not much. We do not account for inertia when calculating gravity on earth as it is most of the time too small to be relevant.

 

[marconi]

Centrifugal forces do not exist. Think on the centripetal force acting an a mass m rotating about the centre of mass of the Earth M in an orbit of radius r.