If We'll Ever Reach Warp Speed
Popular Mechanics US|May - June 2023
THE SECRET TO FASTER-THAN-LIGHT physics could be to double down on the number of dimensions, according to research published last December in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity
Caroline Delbert
If We'll Ever Reach Warp Speed

Specifically, the solution may lie in three dimensions of time, with just one representing space.

The key concept at play is the "superluminal observer," a hypothetical thing that is looking at the universe while traveling faster than light. It's you in your Star Trek warp-speed shuttle.

Superluminal observers marry together two very different sides of physics: general relativity and quantum mechanics. General relativity is the work proposed by Albert Einstein; it governs how spacetime functions as bodies move around the universe at subluminal, or slower-than-light, speeds. Quantum mechanics explains how subatomic particles behave, or don't behave, in very strange ways on the smallest of scales.

Led by theoretical physicist Andrzej Dragan of the University of Warsaw and the National University of Singapore, the team has theorized that many parts of quantum physics can be explained if you take general relativity and apply its principles to the superluminal observer. In other words, how messy does spacetime get if we take our shuttle up to warp speed? Is everything suddenly in multiple places at once?

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May - June 2023 من Popular Mechanics US.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May - June 2023 من Popular Mechanics US.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من POPULAR MECHANICS US مشاهدة الكل
Henrietta Lacks - It's not surprising that Henrietta Lacks-whose
Popular Mechanics US

Henrietta Lacks - It's not surprising that Henrietta Lacks-whose

It's not surprising that Henrietta Lacks-whose "immortal" HeLa cells were pivotal in developing treatments for diseases such as polio, HIV/AIDS, and COVID19-is referred to as "the mother of modern medicine." But Lacks's legacy is complicated due to the ethical concerns surrounding the use of her special cells. Lacks, who died of cancer at age 31 in 1951, was never aware that her cells led to significant medical advancements or that they had been taken without her consent. And even now, her strange case raises questions about the morally dubious methods through which we achieved unquestionably positive breakthroughs in medicine.

time-read
3 mins  |
September - October 2024
Chasing an Asteroid - How NASA defied incredible odds to get its asteroid-hunting osiris-rex mission off the ground and in the process upended what we know about our solar system.
Popular Mechanics US

Chasing an Asteroid - How NASA defied incredible odds to get its asteroid-hunting osiris-rex mission off the ground and in the process upended what we know about our solar system.

Dante Lauretta sat in the backseat of a helicopter hovering high above a remote patch of Utah desert, waiting for a small, twinkling speck in the sky to plunge toward earth.If you didn't know better, you might think what was beginning to burn through the skies above the American southwest in the early hours of September 24, 2023, was a shooting star. But it wasn't a shooting star. Or a meteor. It was a dishwasher-size capsule filled with bits of ancient asteroid-priceless matter from the dawn of the solar system. In other words, it was a treasure chest moving at 27,000 miles per hour and sizzling at a temperature half that of the sun's surface.

time-read
10+ mins  |
September - October 2024
Whether We Live in a Simulation - scientist Melvin Vopson, PhD, studies this exact thing- the possibility that the universe might indeed be a digital facsimile. And he claims to have evidence.
Popular Mechanics US

Whether We Live in a Simulation - scientist Melvin Vopson, PhD, studies this exact thing- the possibility that the universe might indeed be a digital facsimile. And he claims to have evidence.

In the 1999 film the Matrix, Neo discovers A truth to end all truths-the universe is a simulation. While this premise provides fantastic sci-fi fodder, the idea isn't quite as relegated to the fiction section as one might expect. . In fact, University of Portsmouth scientist Melvin Vopson, PhD, studies this exact thing- the possibility that the universe might indeed be a digital facsimile. And he claims to have evidence.

time-read
1 min  |
September - October 2024
The Ancient Language of Easter Island - Today, humans inhabit- or have, at the very least, explored- pretty much every corner of the planet. But that immense proliferation of Homo sapiens across the globe was a slow process.
Popular Mechanics US

The Ancient Language of Easter Island - Today, humans inhabit- or have, at the very least, explored- pretty much every corner of the planet. But that immense proliferation of Homo sapiens across the globe was a slow process.

With the first humans leaving Africa between 60,000 and 120,000 years ago, the species slowly spread across the Earth over many millennia. And one of the last places these ancient humans made their way to was the southeastern Pacific island of Rapa Nui, known more broadly as Easter Island.Located 2,360 miles off the coast of Chile, Rapa Nui is one of the most isolated places in the world. Its native people, who are also named the Rapa Nui, first arrived on the island's shores between A.D. 1150 and 1280, and lived in isolation until the arrival of Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen in 1722.

time-read
2 mins  |
September - October 2024
Underwater UFOs - A retired U.S. Navy admiral believes that the government should look to the oceans to help solve a mystery in the skies.
Popular Mechanics US

Underwater UFOs - A retired U.S. Navy admiral believes that the government should look to the oceans to help solve a mystery in the skies.

A retired U.S. Navy admiral believes that the government should look to the oceans to help solve a mystery in the skies. Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, former Oceanographer of the U.S. Navy, recently published a paper arguing that unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP, more commonly referred to as UFO) and unidentified submersible objects (USO) are linked, and should be studied further.

time-read
2 mins  |
September - October 2024
Synching Up Our Circadian Rhythms - If you've ever done any kind of long-distance travel, or just woken up feeling under-rested thanks to daylight saving time, you know how important your circadian clock is.
Popular Mechanics US

Synching Up Our Circadian Rhythms - If you've ever done any kind of long-distance travel, or just woken up feeling under-rested thanks to daylight saving time, you know how important your circadian clock is.

If you've ever done any kind of long-distance travel, or just woken up feeling under-rested thanks to daylight saving time, you know how important your circadian clock is. Like many things in your body, your circadian rhythm is more complicated than it might seem on the surface. Rather than being entirely brain-based, it's actually controlled by a collection of several circadian clocks (central and peripheral) that all work together to keep your gears turning like a well-oiled machine.

time-read
2 mins  |
September - October 2024
SKINWALKER RANCH REVEALED
Popular Mechanics US

SKINWALKER RANCH REVEALED

The 512-acre ranch has captivated real-estate tycoons, TV producers, and the U.S. government. What are they searching for?

time-read
10+ mins  |
September - October 2024
Upgrade Your Living Room With This DIY - MID-CENTURY COFFEE TABLE
Popular Mechanics US

Upgrade Your Living Room With This DIY - MID-CENTURY COFFEE TABLE

This project is easy to build and customize to fit your space.

time-read
5 mins  |
September - October 2024
INDISPENSABLE LESSONS FROM A POP MECH LEGEND
Popular Mechanics US

INDISPENSABLE LESSONS FROM A POP MECH LEGEND

With people moving around so much these days, it's perfectly natural to wonder how an editor can just come along and stick like a barnacle to the hull of Popular Mechanics, lasting for 35 years.

time-read
9 mins  |
September - October 2024
SAVING THE SUGAR BUSH
Popular Mechanics US

SAVING THE SUGAR BUSH

A technological revolution has transformed the ancient tradition of sugar making-with big implications for local economies and ecosystems imperiled by climate change.

time-read
10+ mins  |
September - October 2024