# Faster Than Light just isn't gonna cut it, pal. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486 "2006-04-05T22:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/21 "2006-04-06T20:07:11Z")
At least we can fire up Celestia and pretend to fly to Proxima…and then turn around and see our home Sun among the stars of Cassiopeia. ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/22 "2006-04-06T20:12:22Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > No, IIRC, the higher warp factors were supposed to be faster according to an exponential progression. I don’t know if you meant to quote me or not. My numbers came from the site **Greenback** linked to. IOW, if the numbers are wrong, blame **Greenback**! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/23 "2006-04-06T20:16:50Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > It always kinda irked me that bookstores always put the two together as if they were the same genre. I guess that they appeal to the same people, or at least some of the same people, but they aren’t the same darn it! 🙂 Gosh, I simply don’t agree. They’re both essentially fantasy; one is fantasy with swords, the other with light sabres. One’s fantasy with spaceships, the other with smart blue-eyed horses. It’s still fantasy even if you substitute sci-fi elements for the Tolkienesque stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/24 "2006-04-06T20:19:46Z")
Leave me out of this lol Anyway, I exaggerated to make a point. It wasn’t that I was too lazy to calculate it myself. Yeah. That’s it. I think that ST has the right idea when it comes to interstellar travel. It’s not about trying to get to c, it’s about circumventing conventional physics entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/25 "2006-04-06T20:57:06Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > I wonder if that was the arbitrary “trip” that they used to revamp the warp numbers. > > To wit: Proxima Centauri is about 4.22 ly away. One light year is 9,460,800,000,000 km, so it’s roughly 39,924,576,000,000 km one way. At warp factor 9 [TNG], you’re travelling at 454,800,000 km per second. So, it’s 87,785 seconds, or just a titch over 24 hours. Hmmmm… Slowpokes. With a Quantum II hyperdrive, you could be there in five minutes. (But you had to be outside a star’s gravity well to use it, which gives you an inconveniently long acceleration/deceleration time at each end.) ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/26 "2006-04-06T22:56:56Z")
> [@Civil Guy](#): > > [hijack]So… when one goes faster than the speed of sound, one trails a sonic boom. What would happen if one were to go faster than light? Would one trail a, well, lightic boom? (There’s got to be better Latin for it.) …Well, no sense worrying about it, it’ll probably never happen.[/hijack] > … Actually, it happens every day. And yes, the “lightic boom” is a very pretty blue. See [Cherenkov radiation.](http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/cherenkov.html) ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/27 "2006-04-06T23:00:43Z")
Ah, apologies. I should have clicked on **Malacandra’s** post before replying. I though it referred to wormholes. My bad, he was first on this. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/28 "2006-04-06T23:11:27Z")
> [@Civil Guy](#): > > [hijack]So… when one goes faster than the speed of sound, one trails a sonic boom. What would happen if one were to go faster than light? Would one trail a, well, lightic boom? (There’s got to be better Latin for it.) …Well, no sense worrying about it, it’ll probably never happen.[/hijack] > > Worm holes, we really need to find worm holes. And find a better Latin term for those, as well. Photonic boom. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/29 "2006-04-06T23:15:32Z")
Photonic Flash might be better. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/30 "2006-04-07T09:18:04Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > Ah, apologies. I should have clicked on **Malacandra’s** post before replying. I though it referred to wormholes. My bad, he was first on this. That’s OK, you can never have too many cites about Cerenkov radiation. I think that shade of blue is pretty darn cool - not to mention the somewhat brain-boggling realization that it’s the product of something moving faster than light. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/31 "2006-04-07T11:59:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Gosh, I simply don’t agree. They’re both essentially fantasy; one is fantasy with swords, the other with light sabres. One’s fantasy with spaceships, the other with smart blue-eyed horses. It’s still fantasy even if you substitute sci-fi elements for the Tolkienesque stuff. That’s because you view Star Wars as sci-fi and I view Arthur C. Clarke as sci-fi. There is a huge difference. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/32 "2006-04-07T12:59:48Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > That’s OK, you can never have too many cites about Cerenkov radiation. I think that shade of blue is pretty darn cool - not to mention the somewhat brain-boggling realization that it’s the product of something moving faster than light. It moving faster than light _in that medium_, not faster than c. I shall now stop nitpicking. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/33 "2006-04-07T13:03:54Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > It moving faster than light _in that medium_, not faster than c. I shall now stop nitpicking. 🙂 You can stop telling me things I already know any time you like, too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/34 "2006-04-07T13:04:14Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > That’s because you view Star Wars as sci-fi and I view Arthur C. Clarke as sci-fi. There is a huge difference. _Star Wars_ is space fantasy. _Star Trek_ is sci-fi. Arthur C. Clarke is science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/35 "2006-04-07T13:30:58Z")
I’ll second **MEBuckner** on this. I think Star Trek _used_ to be up there with the old school science fiction, but it exchanged a bit of that as the price of its phenomenal worldwide recognition. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/36 "2006-04-07T14:43:34Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > _Star Wars_ is space fantasy. _Star Trek_ is sci-fi. Arthur C. Clarke is science fiction. I’m not sure that I understand the difference between sci-fi and science fiction, as I had always thought that sci-fi came from **SCI** ence **FI** ction… But if you are making a distinction, then I too would say that Clarke is Science Fiction in the proper sense. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/37 "2006-04-07T14:49:09Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Slowpokes. With a Quantum II hyperdrive, you could be there in five minutes. (But you had to be outside a star’s gravity well to use it, which gives you an inconveniently long acceleration/deceleration time at each end.) No… (minor spoilers for ringworld’s children, if anybody cares…) You can turn on your Q2 hyperdrive about as close to a star as you want. Just watch out for 'dem “Eaters of ships” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486/38 "2006-04-07T15:04:09Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > No… (minor spoilers for ringworld’s children, if anybody cares…) > > You can turn on your Q2 hyperdrive about as close to a star as you want. Just watch out for 'dem “Eaters of ships” > 😃 Interesting, I didn’t know this book was subtitled “Niven Jumps the Shark”. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-light-just-isnt-gonna-cut-it-pal/351486.md?page=1)