NASA says warp speed possible

What's next, Jetpacks?

www.complex.com/tech/2012/09/nasa-scient...peed-may-be-possible

Yeah, but these are the same people that haven't managed to stay within their operating budget since 1962. I'll settle for Impulse Power from these jokers.

S.

This ring, potentially made of exotic matter

Riiiight, that would be the matter that nobody has ever seen or can describe yet...

ThirstyMan wrote: This ring, potentially made of exotic matter

Riiiight, that would be the matter that nobody has ever seen or can describe yet...

hehe yeah.. Noticed that one as well. That is where the journalist ought to say "wah?"

But what is cool about all this is that it has kind of moved FTL travel into the realm of possibility.

It has no more moved into the realm of possibility than it was 20 years (or more) ago.

I read about this in mid 80's. Not much has changed. Physicists have known about the idea for decades but it has never been practical and it still isn't.

ThirstyMan wrote: This ring, potentially made of exotic matter

Riiiight, that would be the matter that nobody has ever seen or can describe yet...

LMAO
That was the EXACT sentence that had me guffawing at this article last week.

10x the speed of light is past the Warp 2 Barrier, and there's no way that can be done without Vulcans to help us out. This just proves that these NASA nerds are getting sloppy. Maybe if there were fewer budget cuts to the space program someone would have spotted this mistake and stopped NASA from looking dumb.

I think Warp Factor 2 is the exact speed that repoman has to acquire in order to reach his bathroom from the breakfast bar to avoid vomiting in the hotel corridor after a night of heavy drinking (ie one, max two beers).

NASA: If we find a material that breaks the laws of physics, we will break the laws of physics!

ThirstyMan wrote: I think Warp Factor 2 is the exact speed that repoman has to acquire in order to reach his bathroom from the breakfast bar to avoid vomiting in the hotel corridor after a night of heavy drinking (ie one, max two beers).

Quite right, Andy. Quite right.

NASAs funding must be up for a vote. They usually release some utter bullshit statement just before.

repoman wrote: NASAs funding must be up for a vote. They usually release some utter bullshit statement just before.

THAT right there is where NASA truly has top talent.

I think it's pretty obvious that the ring will be made of pure neutronium.

S.

ThirstyMan wrote: This ring, potentially made of exotic matter

Riiiight, that would be the matter that nobody has ever seen or can describe yet...

Hey, they made the Nuva Ring...and that's pretty exotic...

repoman wrote: NASAs funding must be up for a vote. They usually release some utter bullshit statement just before.

That was my reaction, too.

I suspect that this ring of exotic matter will be composed of unobtainium.

Did you see the headline today?

NASA Leader wrote: In light of the revelation that we foresee space travel at faster-than-light speeds as imminent, today I would like to announce, with great pleasure, that we now not only believe that a 'warp drive' will be possible, but that it will be able to travel at...Ludicrous Speed

Sagrilarus wrote:

repoman wrote: NASAs funding must be up for a vote. They usually release some utter bullshit statement just before.

THAT right there is where NASA truly has top talent.

Unfortunately not true for any department beyond the manned flight wing with a bit of splash-over on the deep space probe crowd. The earth sciences folks have been getting crushed year over year because the bulk of the money goes to the headline-generators. A coworker who spent years at NASA Langley pointed out to me a few years back that "the priority nowadays is to find answers to questions about Mars that we aren't sure we've even answered about Earth yet." There was also a distinct grumble about "that shuttle moneypit..." but that was pretty much expected from a guy whose project was basically killed when every spare nickle NASA had was being diverted to the two long "Return to Flight" programs that followed the two catastrophic failures.

With no more manned flight on the boards (and thus no more highly visible "instant American Hero" spokesmen in the pipeline), a bullshit statement about warpdrive will still go over better with the American public than an appeal for more money to replace (or deploy for the first time in some cases) a new pile of expensive sensor platforms.