![]() The only thing we have to rely on is the Special Theory of Relativity (Einstein 1905) and according to it time in a moving reference frame (say your space ship) goes slower as compared to a stationary frame (say Earth) the faster you go. We really do not know what would happen to time when an object passes the speed of light. However if you would still like to choose if you are having the soup or the salad at the dinner you will not attend here is a thought. So that eventually you need infinite amounts of energy to accelerate infinite mass past the speed of light mark! (and as far as I know we have yet to find an infinite source of energy :-) One of the reasons that prevent any object with a mass going at or faster than the speed of light is that the mass is not constant - it increases with velocity and it goes to infinity at the speed of light. You told me you absolutely couldn't come, but then I asked you whether you were going toĪnswered by: Steve Healey, Physics student, Rutgers University, New Jersey It's like if I invited you out to dinner and I can't say time would reverse itself or not exist orĪnything because those aren't even options. ![]() The point is that though it's fun to think about and enjoy in science fiction, truly goingįaster than the speed of light is a violation of the laws of physics and therefore can not Than the speed of light in local space, so Einstein's 'speed limit' still holds. Happily for relativity, you would STILL not actually be travelling faster You would end up in aĬertain location much faster than if you travelled there the 'normal way,' kind of like a One! Warping space would allow you to travel as if you were moving faster than light byĬhanging the structure of the universe, at least temporarily. This brings upĪn interesting point, however: The idea of a space-warping engine is NOT entirely a bad Light every show and travel into the past like it's a trip to Disneyland. Of course, this doesn't bother the writers of Star Trek. Grandfather before I was born?' There's no answer, because the question doesn't make any You run into a similar problem when you ask 'What if I could divide by zero?' or 'What if IĬould build a perpetual motion machine?' or 'What if I went back in time and killed my Package: once you decide to ignore one physical law, you're ignoring them all. If you imagine things that way in some hypothetical universe. It's not possible to goįaster than the speed of light, so the laws of physics can't possibly say what would happen Speed of light?' because that's totally physically impossible. The problem is that you can't say, 'Hey, what would happen if you could go faster than the Light, you're taking the laws of physics and punching them in the stomach and throwing them When you assume that it's possible to travel faster than the speed of Professor Einstein's theory in this way, but unfortunately, you're probably not going to ![]() Your question is a very interesting one, and it is great to see that you are thinking about If it was possible to travel faster then the speed of light, would time reverse itself (like backwards time travel) or just not exist?
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