Warp drive possible in reality?

[FekLeyr Targ]

Hi,
I found this link today at the chris jones gaming forums.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/08/15/sciwarpdrive115.xml
What do you think?

[Kirk]

Not in my lifetime, if ever. That's what I think.

[MLeo]

This idea has existed for quite some time actually. ;)
Not sure if it was before Star Trek, but at any rate, it's not the same at all like Star Trek.

[Senator]

In before Alcubierre Drive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive

(Nice to hear they now say they only need a Jupiter's worth of energy though, used to be a sun, and before than suns (plural). Lets hope the miniaturization trend continues)

[Nighthawk]

it says that you need a hell of a supply of energy. if I'm not wrong, in ST, that energy... doesn't it come from the matter/antimatter reaction?

[intrepid90]

yes, it comes, and where do they get the ressourced for this reaction?
from the bussard collectors. at least in theory.
in fact, space is way too empty to collect the masses that would be needed

[Kirk]

My theory is they get the matter from the human waste receptacles. (Makes sense, it's got to go somewhere)

[Nighthawk]

AFAIK, the bussards aspire matter (hydrogen?). isn't the antimatter sort of produced?

[MLeo]

The Matter/Antimatter reaction in Star Trek is far more powerfull than what you would get in reality. Aside from that, the bussards are only used for emergencies, for example, see Voyager. ;)

And it was the Alcubierre Drive, thanks for that Senator!

[intrepid90]

Aside from that, the bussards are only used for emergencies, for example, see Voyager. ;)

hu?
are'nt the bussards the things that collect the stardust and so one of the most important ressources for the fusion??

and when bussards are for emergency only, why are they visible on every ship and not somewhere IN the hull and deployed when needed??

[MLeo]

Because for them to be any use, they need to be big. And you also don't hide the warp nacelles inside the hull either. ;) Except when it comes to the Prometheus and DeltaFlyer.

[intrepid90]

well, mleo...
your confusing me...
I just read the article on Memory Alpha and cant find sth that says unneccesary

[MLeo]

"Collection works best in regions where particle density is high like solar systems or nebulae."

In other words: practically no-where.

[Nighthawk]

in terms of space scale, yes. the universe is practically 99% vacuum
but for what I know, having that warp drive, when you run low of supplies, it's just a matter of hours to the nearest system.
so you just collect as much as you can, and you can always come back for more

[gclark03]

This is the kind of thing our great-grandchildren will dream of.

[MLeo]

This is the kind of thing our great-grandchildren will dream of.

Actually, it (Alcubierre Drive, and the Warp drive in Star Trek for some) was the thing our parents dreamed of when they were children. ;)

[Senator]

Well, we know that the Greys do it, so how difficult can it be?. :mrgreen:

[Villain]

The Ramscoops collect a load of crap, hence why the ship has to go *breaks into song* To the car-wash! Yeah- Er, I mean, ship-wash. Not only that but the magnetism of the hull blah blah, sensors, yadda yadda. But even then, the Buzzards don't indicate they collect all that much, as most of space is either nothing or useless dust particles anyway. They also have a fantastic plot-resource too. If Trek was much more realistic, they'd have a Mechwarrior style "Jump-then-you're-stuffed" situation. But eh. I like the idea of "Oh crap, I screwed up the co-ordinates, now we'll never get to Wolf-359 in time, AND I'm going to lose my job!"

[gclark03]

The Alcubierre drive is a long shot, but is it possible to create a matter/antimatter reactor at all? I assume that the only thing stopping your grandfather's nuclear reactor from operating the warp drive in Star Trek is the energy demand, a thirst only the warp core can quench.

Remember that in space, nothing is done because it's 'cool'. If the Federation could get away with it, all its exploration would have been done with unmanned probes, which have lower energy demands, no need for expensive artificial gravity and life support, the ability to survive speeds that would kill everybody aboard a starship, and no human losses when the probe is destroyed.

In other words, there has to be some reason why the large, expensive starship, with its fancy matter/antimatter reactor, was chosen over an unmanned probe with lithium-ion batteries.

[Villain]

The Alcubierre drive is a long shot, but is it possible to create a matter/antimatter reactor at all? I assume that the only thing stopping your grandfather's nuclear reactor from operating the warp drive in Star Trek is the energy demand, a thirst only the warp core can quench.

Remember that in space, nothing is done because it's 'cool'. If the Federation could get away with it, all its exploration would have been done with unmanned probes, which have lower energy demands, no need for expensive artificial gravity and life support, the ability to survive speeds that would kill everybody aboard a starship, and no human losses when the probe is destroyed.

In other words, there has to be some reason why the large, expensive starship, with its fancy matter/antimatter reactor, was chosen over an unmanned probe with lithium-ion batteries.

According to Trek, mankind has gotten alot more obsessed with itself, also, with how large the population is in even TOS, manned spacecraft was a given, I'd say. Why do we send seven astronauts to their deaths rather than build robots to build the ISS?