![]() ![]() ![]() You reach a point where it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate an infinite mass to the speed of light. The more massive it becomes, the more energy it takes to accelerate the object to even faster speeds. While I am no scientist/physicist, I believe I understand that the faster an object goes, the more massive it becomes. Eventually, near the end of the book, they have accelerated so fast that their "tau" in down in the millionths and billionths, if not even more and that billions and trillions of years pass outside the ship, for every second that passes inside it. The ship in the story intended to attain a tau of 0.015, but as they continue to accelerate beyond the original schedule, it decreases. Therefore, as Anderson writes, "the closer that the ship's velocity comes to the speed of light, the closer tau comes to zero", and the longer the time that passes outside the ship for a duration inside. This engine is not capable of faster-than-light travel, and so the voyage is subject to relativity and time dilation. What (if any) is the science behind the "tau" in Poul Anderson's novel "Tau Zero"? The starship Leonora Christine is powered by a Bussard ramjet. Such as the weird thought that went through my head during this evenings drive home, which in turn lead me to seek out this forum. you start having "weird thoughts" go through your head. And you know how it is when you are driving alone, with no one to talk to. Every Friday evening and Monday morning, I have a couple of hours to drive. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |