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The future is impossible

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  • Y Ygnaiih

    Lately I am seeing articles from Futurist who say that this or that is impossible. A good example would be faster than light speed travel. I'm old. I've seen everything from floor model radios to 98 inch flat screen TVs with Netflix etc. I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

    Leadership equals wrecked ship. If you think you are leading my look behind you. You are alone. If you think I am leading you, You are lost.

    D Offline
    D Offline
    dan sh
    wrote on last edited by
    #2

    Ygnaiih wrote:

    Futurist

    No clue what this is.

    Ygnaiih wrote:

    I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible

    Not if you add "based on current technology and science knowledge I have".

    "It is easy to decipher extraterrestrial signals after deciphering Javascript and VB6 themselves.", ISanti[^]

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • Y Ygnaiih

      Lately I am seeing articles from Futurist who say that this or that is impossible. A good example would be faster than light speed travel. I'm old. I've seen everything from floor model radios to 98 inch flat screen TVs with Netflix etc. I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

      Leadership equals wrecked ship. If you think you are leading my look behind you. You are alone. If you think I am leading you, You are lost.

      L Offline
      L Offline
      Lost User
      wrote on last edited by
      #3

      Ygnaiih wrote:

      I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

      The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe. It has little to do with what we can invent, and more with the limits that exisist in the universe.

      Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

      Z D M Richard DeemingR F 9 Replies Last reply
      0
      • Y Ygnaiih

        Lately I am seeing articles from Futurist who say that this or that is impossible. A good example would be faster than light speed travel. I'm old. I've seen everything from floor model radios to 98 inch flat screen TVs with Netflix etc. I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

        Leadership equals wrecked ship. If you think you are leading my look behind you. You are alone. If you think I am leading you, You are lost.

        D Offline
        D Offline
        Daniel Pfeffer
        wrote on last edited by
        #4

        Arthur C. Clarke's Law: "When a distinguished, but elderly, scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly correct. When, however, he says that something is impossible, he is almost certainly mistaken." Clarke goes on to define "elderly": "In mathematics, physics, and chemistry, it means someone over 30. In the biological sciences, senile decay is sometimes postponed until the 40s." At present, there seems no economical way to travel faster than light (creating a wormhole with an energy budget greater than that of a star doesn't count). However, we already know that General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are incomplete; it could be that whatever unifies them will re-open the possibility for FTL. Even if the theory is advanced in the next few decades, I doubt that the hardware will be built fast enough for old farts like us to use. :sigh: :( :((

        If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

        W M 2 Replies Last reply
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        • L Lost User

          Ygnaiih wrote:

          I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

          The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe. It has little to do with what we can invent, and more with the limits that exisist in the universe.

          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

          Z Offline
          Z Offline
          ZurdoDev
          wrote on last edited by
          #5

          Eddy Vluggen wrote:

          The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe.

          Quote:

          "based on current technology and science knowledge I have".

          :-D

          There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data. There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

          J G 2 Replies Last reply
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          • D Daniel Pfeffer

            Arthur C. Clarke's Law: "When a distinguished, but elderly, scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly correct. When, however, he says that something is impossible, he is almost certainly mistaken." Clarke goes on to define "elderly": "In mathematics, physics, and chemistry, it means someone over 30. In the biological sciences, senile decay is sometimes postponed until the 40s." At present, there seems no economical way to travel faster than light (creating a wormhole with an energy budget greater than that of a star doesn't count). However, we already know that General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are incomplete; it could be that whatever unifies them will re-open the possibility for FTL. Even if the theory is advanced in the next few decades, I doubt that the hardware will be built fast enough for old farts like us to use. :sigh: :( :((

            If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

            W Offline
            W Offline
            W Balboos GHB
            wrote on last edited by
            #6

            Phase velocity can exceed the speed of light - it may be exploitable, but for sending information and not any physical objects. It all comes down to the relativistic mass of any object with mass. As it approaches the speed of light its mass approached infinity - so acceleration becomes impossible. An interesting caveat to that could be that as anything with any mass approaches c, they all approach the same mass. Which causes all sorts of conflicts, logically - and one might as well accelerate an entire planet as accelerate a grain of sand as they'll take the same effort in the end. Special relativity does bend the brain, a bit.

            Ravings en masse^

            "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

            "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

            D H L S 4 Replies Last reply
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            • L Lost User

              Ygnaiih wrote:

              I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

              The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe. It has little to do with what we can invent, and more with the limits that exisist in the universe.

              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

              D Offline
              D Offline
              den2k88
              wrote on last edited by
              #7

              The Earth was known to be flat. Bloodlettings were known to be healthy...

              CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. I'm a puny punmaker.

              J L 3 Replies Last reply
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              • D den2k88

                The Earth was known to be flat. Bloodlettings were known to be healthy...

                CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. I'm a puny punmaker.

                J Offline
                J Offline
                Johnny J
                wrote on last edited by
                #8

                It isn't? :confused: They aren't? :omg:

                Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                Anonymous
                -----
                The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                Winston Churchill, 1944
                -----
                I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
                Me, all the time

                OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • J Johnny J

                  It isn't? :confused: They aren't? :omg:

                  Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                  Anonymous
                  -----
                  The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                  Winston Churchill, 1944
                  -----
                  I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
                  Me, all the time

                  OriginalGriffO Offline
                  OriginalGriffO Offline
                  OriginalGriff
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #9

                  Johnny J. wrote:

                  It isn't?

                  Only in Alabama.

                  Johnny J. wrote:

                  They aren't?

                  See above.

                  Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                  "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                  "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                  L M 2 Replies Last reply
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                  • D Daniel Pfeffer

                    Arthur C. Clarke's Law: "When a distinguished, but elderly, scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly correct. When, however, he says that something is impossible, he is almost certainly mistaken." Clarke goes on to define "elderly": "In mathematics, physics, and chemistry, it means someone over 30. In the biological sciences, senile decay is sometimes postponed until the 40s." At present, there seems no economical way to travel faster than light (creating a wormhole with an energy budget greater than that of a star doesn't count). However, we already know that General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are incomplete; it could be that whatever unifies them will re-open the possibility for FTL. Even if the theory is advanced in the next few decades, I doubt that the hardware will be built fast enough for old farts like us to use. :sigh: :( :((

                    If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                    M Offline
                    M Offline
                    Mark_Wallace
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #10

                    Yes, but Clarke admitted that those statements were completely erroneous, a few weeks after his 30th birthday.

                    I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                    D C 2 Replies Last reply
                    0
                    • L Lost User

                      Ygnaiih wrote:

                      I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

                      The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe. It has little to do with what we can invent, and more with the limits that exisist in the universe.

                      Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

                      M Offline
                      M Offline
                      Mark_Wallace
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #11

                      But light does not travel at a constant speed, so the number assigned to it is all but arbitrary. Who knows if it can go a lot faster, under the right conditions?

                      I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                      K 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • D den2k88

                        The Earth was known to be flat. Bloodlettings were known to be healthy...

                        CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. I'm a puny punmaker.

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #12

                        No. It was known that people used to think the Earth was flat. Indeed Eratosthenes calculated the Earth's circumference more than 2000 years ago. At least the Greeks had drawn their conclusions from ships apparently disappearing behind the horizon and trying to measure and calculate the circumference would have been kindof pointless if they still had thought the Earth to be flat.

                        The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                        This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                        "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                        K A 2 Replies Last reply
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                        • M Mark_Wallace

                          Yes, but Clarke admitted that those statements were completely erroneous, a few weeks after his 30th birthday.

                          I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                          D Offline
                          D Offline
                          Daniel Pfeffer
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #13

                          :laugh:

                          If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                            Johnny J. wrote:

                            It isn't?

                            Only in Alabama.

                            Johnny J. wrote:

                            They aren't?

                            See above.

                            Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                            L Offline
                            L Offline
                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #14

                            OriginalGriff wrote:

                            Only in Alabama.

                            By my experience, the heads are totally flat in Alabama, not the Earth.

                            The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                            This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                            "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                            K 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • W W Balboos GHB

                              Phase velocity can exceed the speed of light - it may be exploitable, but for sending information and not any physical objects. It all comes down to the relativistic mass of any object with mass. As it approaches the speed of light its mass approached infinity - so acceleration becomes impossible. An interesting caveat to that could be that as anything with any mass approaches c, they all approach the same mass. Which causes all sorts of conflicts, logically - and one might as well accelerate an entire planet as accelerate a grain of sand as they'll take the same effort in the end. Special relativity does bend the brain, a bit.

                              Ravings en masse^

                              "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                              "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

                              D Offline
                              D Offline
                              Daniel Pfeffer
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #15

                              W∴ Balboos wrote:

                              Phase velocity can exceed the speed of light

                              True, but it can't be used to transfer information. Many other things can also "travel" faster than light; for example, a laser dot shined onto the moon will, if the laser is moved at more than ~43 degrees of arc per second, "appear" to move faster than light. However, this dot cannot be used to transfer information.

                              W∴ Balboos wrote:

                              It all comes down to the relativistic mass of any object with mass.

                              I am well aware that Special Relativity does not allow travel at faster than the Speed of Light. I was speculating on the possibility that a marriage of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics would allow for FTL travel.

                              If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                              W 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • W W Balboos GHB

                                Phase velocity can exceed the speed of light - it may be exploitable, but for sending information and not any physical objects. It all comes down to the relativistic mass of any object with mass. As it approaches the speed of light its mass approached infinity - so acceleration becomes impossible. An interesting caveat to that could be that as anything with any mass approaches c, they all approach the same mass. Which causes all sorts of conflicts, logically - and one might as well accelerate an entire planet as accelerate a grain of sand as they'll take the same effort in the end. Special relativity does bend the brain, a bit.

                                Ravings en masse^

                                "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                                "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

                                L Offline
                                L Offline
                                Lost User
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #16

                                mass increases with velocity? You must live in a different reality then the rest of us. Relativistic mass =/= mass.

                                Sin tack ear lol Pressing the any key may be continuate

                                1 Reply Last reply
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                                • W W Balboos GHB

                                  Phase velocity can exceed the speed of light - it may be exploitable, but for sending information and not any physical objects. It all comes down to the relativistic mass of any object with mass. As it approaches the speed of light its mass approached infinity - so acceleration becomes impossible. An interesting caveat to that could be that as anything with any mass approaches c, they all approach the same mass. Which causes all sorts of conflicts, logically - and one might as well accelerate an entire planet as accelerate a grain of sand as they'll take the same effort in the end. Special relativity does bend the brain, a bit.

                                  Ravings en masse^

                                  "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                                  "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

                                  H Offline
                                  H Offline
                                  HobbyProggy
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #17

                                  Two objects pass each other with 0,6*c (like trains that go in different direction) and from either of the object it would "look" like you pass each other with 1,2*c ? Now the question is would you see the other object passing?

                                  Rules for the FOSW ![^]

                                  if(this.signature != "")
                                  {
                                  MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
                                  }
                                  else
                                  {
                                  MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
                                  }

                                  D W 2 Replies Last reply
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                                  • M Mark_Wallace

                                    But light does not travel at a constant speed, so the number assigned to it is all but arbitrary. Who knows if it can go a lot faster, under the right conditions?

                                    I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                                    K Offline
                                    K Offline
                                    Kaladin
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #18

                                    Well, it's defined according to the speed of light in a vacuum.

                                    D M 2 Replies Last reply
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                                    • H HobbyProggy

                                      Two objects pass each other with 0,6*c (like trains that go in different direction) and from either of the object it would "look" like you pass each other with 1,2*c ? Now the question is would you see the other object passing?

                                      Rules for the FOSW ![^]

                                      if(this.signature != "")
                                      {
                                      MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
                                      }
                                      else
                                      {
                                      MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
                                      }

                                      D Offline
                                      D Offline
                                      Daniel Pfeffer
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #19

                                      Nope. Adding relativistic velocities is not simple addition. See [Special Relativity - composition of velocities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special\_relativity#Composition\_of\_velocities)

                                      If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • D Daniel Pfeffer

                                        W∴ Balboos wrote:

                                        Phase velocity can exceed the speed of light

                                        True, but it can't be used to transfer information. Many other things can also "travel" faster than light; for example, a laser dot shined onto the moon will, if the laser is moved at more than ~43 degrees of arc per second, "appear" to move faster than light. However, this dot cannot be used to transfer information.

                                        W∴ Balboos wrote:

                                        It all comes down to the relativistic mass of any object with mass.

                                        I am well aware that Special Relativity does not allow travel at faster than the Speed of Light. I was speculating on the possibility that a marriage of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics would allow for FTL travel.

                                        If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                                        W Offline
                                        W Offline
                                        W Balboos GHB
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #20

                                        Not sending information via phase velocity at greater than c: I had that explained to me ca. 30 years ago. I had suggested a physical device, essentially a giant scissor, which could open and close and non-relativistic velocities with respect to it's physical form, but the point at which the two parts of the scissor meet (a phase) moves faster than the scissor if the scissor is long enough. So - make the scissor long enough so that the intersection exceeds c whilst no actual parts do - but the signal is sent from end-to-end by observing the motion of the tips of the scissor. The physicist said what would happen is that the scissor would actually bend (relativisticly) to prevent the signal from exceeding c. This would, I suggest, connect with your wording "appear" to exceed see with your laser-spot-to-the-moon concept. But wait! Stuff does exceed c under certain circumstance: if moving at c to begin with, a photon entering a new medium with a higher index of refraction will, momentarily, exceed see. This is observed as the bluish glow observed in the cooling water around a nuclear reactor (Cherenkov radiation). So - their is ever so small a chink in the armor of no-way, albeit admittedly it wouldn't help out much if traveling in a vacuum.

                                        Ravings en masse^

                                        "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                                        "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

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                                        • H HobbyProggy

                                          Two objects pass each other with 0,6*c (like trains that go in different direction) and from either of the object it would "look" like you pass each other with 1,2*c ? Now the question is would you see the other object passing?

                                          Rules for the FOSW ![^]

                                          if(this.signature != "")
                                          {
                                          MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
                                          }
                                          else
                                          {
                                          MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
                                          }

                                          W Offline
                                          W Offline
                                          W Balboos GHB
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #21

                                          HobbyProggy wrote:

                                          from either of the object it would "look" like you pass each other with 1,2*c ?

                                          No. That's actually from a gedanken experiment written up by Einstein with respect to light on a moving train, etc.

                                          Ravings en masse^

                                          "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                                          "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

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