Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the possibility of going faster than the speed of light. If we look at the Einstein's special relativity theory, the speed of light in vacuum has constant velocity of 186,282 miles per second. If you could travel at this speed, you could go around the Earth 7.5 times in one second.
In 1994, Miguel Alcubierre proposed a method that would take us beyond the speed of light limit. In his mathematical theory, he used two points in space-time to demonstrate the expansion and contraction of space fabric. The idea of Alcubierre's theory was that we could use this space-time warp to make an object travel faster than light.
Neil deGrasse Tyson takes examples from science fiction works like Star Trek to demonstrate and explain how an advanced civilization could be capable of manipulating the fabric of space-time itself in order to travel faster than the speed of light.
Einstein's theory of special relativity states that energy and mass are interchangeable, and speed of light travel is impossible for material objects that, unlike photons, have a non-zero rest mass.
Neil deGrasse Tyson explains how Einstein's theory of general relativity allows for time itself to slow down if you travel at relativistic velocity
Einstein's theory of general relativity mathematically predicts the existence of wormholes, but none have been discovered to date. Even if a wormhole could form, it would most likely be very unstable. Wormholes are still speculative because nobody really knows if you could pass through it. The math suggests that you need some sort of exotic material to pry the throat of the wormhole opening so that it wont collapse in on it self. Even then it is possibly unstable.
#neiltyson #science #lightspeed
SUBSCRIBE to our channel "Science Time": https://www.youtube.com/sciencetime24
SUPPORT us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sciencetime
BUY Science Time Merch: https://teespring.com/science-time-merch
Sources:
Jose Luis Blázquez-Salcedo, Christian Knoll, Eugen Radu. Traversable Wormholes in Einstein-Dirac-Maxwell Theory. Physical Review Letters, 2021; 126 (10) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.101102
Erik W. Lentz. 2021. Breaking the warp barrier: hyper-fast solitons in Einstein-Maxwell-plasma theory. Class. Quantum Grav 38: 075015; doi: 10.1088/1361-6382/abe692
Pioneering Interstellar Fligh https://tauzero.aero/ Accessed 09.04.2021
Warp Drive and Aliens: Bryan Gaensler Public Lecture at Perimeter Institute on February 5, 2020- https://youtu.be/fzweIEvN8sc
Neil deGrasse Tyson Lecture at the University of Washington https://youtu.be/wp6cnp1kZBY
Is Warp Drive Real? - https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/warp.html
