FTL Travel a possibility

[Merc14]

Previously it was thought mass equivalent to a planet would be necessary to provide the energy required for a warp jump. But revised suggestions claim mass similar in size to a car might be more realistic.

Unfortunately the drive would require something known as exotic matter to work, hypothetical particles that violate the known laws of physics (possibly such as dark matter), but as of yet none have been found or created

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2655105/Engage-warp-drive-Nasa-reveals-latest-designs-Star-Trek-style-spacecraft-make-interstellar-travel-reality.html#ixzz34M9cuE7J

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2655105/Engage-warp-drive-Nasa-reveals-latest-designs-Star-Trek-style-spacecraft-make-interstellar-travel-reality.html#ixzz34M9JODMM

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[Waspie_Dwarf]

hypothetical particles that violate the known laws of physics (possibly such as dark matter), but as of yet none have been found or created

Not very possible then.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf

[StarMountainKid]

The nice part is those in the spacecraft would not experience time dilation relative to earth time.

[Merc14]

Not very possible then.

I thought the change in energy needed was interesting and I wonder why such a massive change from the original estimate is possible, although I am sure the math is way beyond me.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Merc14

[bison]

The math is beyond me, too. The amount of energy required was drastically reduced by changing the shape of the warp-producing ring around the space vessel from a flat ring to a torus, and oscillating the field, in the proposed design.

In the current experiments, negative matter is not used at all. A high voltage electrical charge is fed into a ring of capacitors. It is believed that this may create a space warp field. This would be measured by a laser interferometer.

Edited June 11, 2014 by bison

[DONTEATUS]

Soon just be another walk in the Universe ! Well Its nice to Dream,and nicer to Imagine ! Good thing were so close to a break thru ! I cant wait forever !

FTL Here we come !

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Good thing were so close to a break thru !

Erm, we aren't close to a break through.

From the original article:

Unfortunately the drive would require something known as exotic matter to work, hypothetical particles that violate the known laws of physics (possibly such as dark matter), but as of yet none have been found or created

As no one even knows if such hypothetical exotic matter exists or if it has the properties required the FTL concept might as well rely on unobtanium or fairy dust.

[bison]

If Dr. White is correct in his reasoning, his experiments may produce a warp field without the need for exotic matter. If a high voltage electric field can act as a proxy for exotic matter, as he proposes, the creation of a space warp could be very much simplified.

They are currently working with a direct current field of 20 kilovolts. They propose to begin using an oscillating field at some point. They believe this could increase the efficiency of the process. ( more warping for a given amount of energy).

There is also the implied possibility of increasing the potential of the electric field. Fields of 32 megavolts have been produced. That's roughly 2000 times what Dr. White is currently using in his experiments.