Prejudice v. Science: When Theory Trumps Hard Evidence

I still predict that particles and things can travel at faster than light speed, without breaking any of Einstein's theories. I don't know how, I'm not a scientist, but I am absolutely sure it is possible.

It has been shown in experiments that both mass increases and time slows with increased speed and the the changes are directly in line with Relativity's predictions.

At the speed of light time passage drops to zero and mass becomes infinite. It would require not just a massive amount of energy to go faster but an infinite amount of energy to go faster. Because time has stopped, it would also require an infinite amount of time for this infinite amount of energy to make this infinite amount of mass to go faster.

I, like most everyone else, wishes it were otherwise but it is a fact that the speed of light is the absolute speed limit.
____________

KenzieB is correct. All of our observations track Einsteins predictions of time speed and gravity perfectly. When we observe supernova, or jets from black holes, everything we observe follows the predictions. This is also true for super colliders. We smash protons at energies that haven't been seen since the beginning of the universe, but no sub-particle travels faster than light. If we aren't seing anything faster than light at these tremendouse energy levels, for both the very massive, and the very small, then it is not reasonable that a workable, containable level of energy would produce different results.

Steve
____________
Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Hi Martin, no it is me, I promise! JG was an amusing distraction, but he made too many outrageous claims, and gave misleading information. When called out and challenged, he disappeared. I base my prediction upon my opinion, that I believe that ET has been here before. That would not be realistically possible without FTL travel. Of course I cannot prove it, and you all know that, but hey, a man is entitled to his thoughts.

Steve, I simply don't know how FTL travel could work, certainly not within the laws of physics and the universe as we currently know them. Kenz and ES99 have a far better understanding of scientific principles than I do, but again they are both constrained within current knowledge, as indeed you are. Yes it will need some massive breakthrough. For the reason I gave above I think it will happen one day, sadly I won't be around to see it.

I hope we do Chris. One thing I admit I don't understand is the expansion of space. That seems to defy logic, but the mechanism isn't known. Dark energy is really a way to describe that "We don't know, but X quantity of Dark Energy is required to balance observations." The same can be said for Dark Matter, but with the effect of keeping galaxies from flying apart.

In dealing with particle physics, or enormous energy levels, there is no indication that anything travels, or could travel faster than light. Usually a new discovery would be based on an observation that goes outside the structured knowledge, but we don't even have that.

Steve
____________
Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Hi Betreger - Well I would like to see him back. He went on holiday for reasons I have no absolutely no idea about, and disappeared shortly afterwards.

@Steve - the expansion of space as we can observe it from earth, is the result of our local big bang, in our part of the one and only single universe. Probably from a supermassive black hole exploding. The rate of expansion that we can observe is increasing, but it would do. You pop a bag of flour in spsce, and what is there to stop the particles speeding away in all directions with increasing velocity? No gravity, no air friction ....

Supposing you laid on your back on the moon and fired a high powered rifle into space, how fast would that bullet finally achieve in MPH? Or would the reaction alter the moons orbit in some miniscule way?

There is one Universe, there are many big bangs happening all over it, and expanding within it, like a cauldron bubbling on a stove, we just happen to live in the aftermath of our own local one. All the matter from our big bang will be devoured by other supermassive black holes elsewhere, and it all starts again.

As good a theory as any ....

Hi Betreger - Well I would like to see him back. He went on holiday for reasons I have no absolutely no idea about, and disappeared shortly afterwards.

@Steve - the expansion of space as we can observe it from earth, is the result of our local big bang, in our part of the one and only single universe. Probably from a supermassive black hole exploding. The rate of expansion that we can observe is increasing, but it would do. You pop a bag of flour in spsce, and what is there to stop the particles speeding away in all directions with increasing velocity? No gravity, no air friction ....

Supposing you laid on your back on the moon and fired a high powered rifle into space, how fast would that bullet finally achieve in MPH? Or would the reaction alter the moons orbit in some miniscule way?

There is one Universe, there are many big bangs happening all over it, and expanding within it, like a cauldron bubbling on a stove, we just happen to live in the aftermath of our own local one. All the matter from our big bang will be devoured by other supermassive black holes elsewhere, and it all starts again.

As good a theory as any ....

Ok suppose we are able to make and control a light photon bubble(stolen from star trek) and were able to manipulate that bubble to the speed of light. The interior of the bubble would not be affected by the mass equation in that scenario

Steve, my guess is that is if we were to travel long distances in a short period of time it would involve the distortion of space. FTL travel would not be involved but the net effect would be the same.

Speaking of light - I happened to watch this New Year's Eve fireworks through a couple of binoculars.

Interestingly, what appeared to be the light coming from the from the exploding fireworks appeared to be flashing out at blindingly fast speed, much faster than the visible, more physical remnants which also were visible by means of their illuminating parts.

My guess is that I may not be observing something which is traveling at the speed of light, but rather it is the energy which is coming from the initial explosion of the actual detonation of the fireworks itself in the air. I do not know what speeds may be around here, but definitely this goes extremely fast.

Perhaps SciManStev is able to explain this phenomenon better than myself? Possibly this may be observed during lightning as well and may then be called "sprites".

I crunch Einstein also, as it's a really cool project.
I always thought of gravity as a property of mass. It is a warpage of space, which gets more intense with greater and greater masses. Although I see a black hole a single particle, I have invisioned various physical sizes of black holes. Maybe one with a mass of a million suns is only a few inches (units) less in diameter than one with the mass of a billion suns.

Anyway, I would be very interested to learn of any controlling mechanism that could "steer" gravity.

Steve
____________
Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

It's certainly facinating stuff to think about. I have been thinking about this kind of stuff since I was a small boy, and I never get tired of it.

Steve
____________
Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

I guess in keeping with the topic of this thread, I like to follow the evidence where ever it leads. If the existing evidence doesn't lead in a particular direction, I can't make my mind go there, but I can easily follow where it does lead. I really don't care where I end up, but that I follow the existing evidence to where it leads. I can easily reverse direction if new evidence contradicts what I learned previously, provided that it is substantiated.

Steve
____________
Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website