# I Think We'd Better Head to Alpha Centauri Pronto **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 6, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676 "2006-01-06T00:50:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/1 "2006-01-06T00:50:45Z")
[It seems that someone **reputable** thinks they might have figured out hyperdrive.](http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=mg18925331.200&feedId=space-tech_rss20) > [@](#): > > EVERY year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year’s winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. It could leave Earth at lunchtime and get to the moon in time for dinner. There’s just one catch: the idea relies on an obscure and largely unrecognised kind of physics. Can they possibly be serious? (Sorry, don’t have access to the full article, so there’s not much more than that one the linked page.) _ **If** _ travel through hyperspace is possible, that can only mean one thing: Earth is scheduled for demolition and we’ve got to make it to the planning office to find out when the exact date is, so we can at least rid ourselves of telephone sanitizers, network executives, and the like. You can find out more about it [here.](http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006) > [@](#): > > The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny. > > Professor Jochem Hauser, one of the scientists who put forward the idea, told The Scotsman that if everything went well a working engine could be tested in about five years. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/2 "2006-01-06T01:04:58Z")
I just got home from work and my wife was on the computer. I said, “Let me check the Dope; there was a really cool story on Slashdot today and I want to see if Tuckerfan posted about it.” 😃 I hope there is some substance to this. Unfortunately, the only stories I’ve been able to find are the two you link to, so either the media hasn’t gotten excited about this yet, or nobody is taking it seriously. I hope Chronos weighs in on this. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/3 "2006-01-06T01:08:28Z")
If this isn’t just a pile of poo (which it smells like, to me), then I’ll bet it’s going to be one of those “Of course it’s possible; all we have to do is build a perfectly rigid superconducting magnetic cylinder half the diameter of the solar system in length, then simply rotate it at half the speed of light, then just hit it with timed laser pulses equivalent in power to the output of all the stars in three average galaxies…” things ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/4 "2006-01-06T01:21:06Z")
**Cisco** , I got my info via RSS feed from New Scientist! 😛 There’s a couple of NASA abstracts [here](http://www.sti.nasa.gov/scan/rss99-02.html#0103004) which look like they might be related. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/5 "2006-01-06T01:45:29Z")
Insert obligatory “Coooooooooooooool” here. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/6 "2006-01-06T01:53:48Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > **Cisco** , I got my info via RSS feed from New Scientist! 😛 > > There’s a couple of NASA abstracts [here](http://www.sti.nasa.gov/scan/rss99-02.html#0103004) which look like they might be related. Might I just say: “Please let this be true!!!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/7 "2006-01-06T02:34:08Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > all we have to do is build a perfectly rigid superconducting magnetic cylinder…" things That’s already patented: [Space vehicle propelled by the pressure of inflationary vacuum state](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&r=1&l=50&f=G&d=PALL&s1=6960975.WKU.&OS=PN/6960975&RS=PN/6960975) > [@](#): > > Inventors: Volfson; Boris … > Appl. No.: 079670 > Filed: March 14, 2005 > > A cooled hollow superconductive shield is energized by an electromagnetic field resulting in the quantized vortices of lattice ions projecting a gravitomagnetic field that forms a spacetime curvature anomaly outside the space vehicle. The spacetime curvature imbalance, the spacetime curvature being the same as gravity, provides for the space vehicle’s propulsion. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/8 "2006-01-06T02:55:41Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If this isn’t just a pile of poo (which it smells like, to me), then I’ll bet it’s going to be one of those “Of course it’s possible; all we have to do is build a perfectly rigid superconducting magnetic cylinder half the diameter of the solar system in length, then simply rotate it at half the speed of light, then just hit it with timed laser pulses equivalent in power to the output of all the stars in three average galaxies…” things It’s probably along those lines. I just wish the military would keep out of it. Reminds me of that scene from _The Rocketeer_: “Your people in Washington want to turn anything that flies into a weapon!” Should we expect the Vulcans to land at any minute? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/9 "2006-01-06T03:54:20Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > It’s probably along those lines. I just wish the military would keep out of it. Reminds me of that scene from _The Rocketeer_: “Your people in Washington want to turn anything that flies into a weapon!” > > Should we expect the Vulcans to land at any minute? Sadly, if the military stays out of it, the project will probably receive about $20 in funding. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/10 "2006-01-06T04:12:49Z")
A shame James Doohan didn’t live long enough to see this. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/11 "2006-01-06T04:17:13Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > A shame James Doohan didn’t live long enough to see this. He would’ve died from all the bad jokes anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/12 "2006-01-06T04:18:07Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > It’s probably along those lines. I just wish the military would keep out of it. Reminds me of that scene from _The Rocketeer_: “Your people in Washington want to turn anything that flies into a weapon!” Hey, turning anything that flew into a weapon caused a nice overall technology jump when we’ve done it before. I say go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/13 "2006-01-06T14:27:57Z")
\We just reached Tech Level 8, Travellers! When do the Aslan make contact?\ Seriously, if anybody in the Media had more for brains than mashed potatos, this would be page 1, globally. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/14 "2006-01-06T15:13:28Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > \We just reached Tech Level 8, Travellers! > > When do the Aslan make contact?\ > > Seriously, if anybody in the Media had more for brains than mashed potatos, this would be page 1, globally. 🆒 Very sad that I understood your joke, ever notice our computer are way ahead? **Mr. Blue Sky** : When I saw the [Link from the Scotsman](http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006) I immediately thought of Jimmy Doohan also. Hopefully they get the funding to pursue this. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/15 "2006-01-06T15:20:11Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Seriously, if anybody in the Media had more for brains than mashed potatos, this would be page 1, globally. 🆒 I think that’s jumping the gun a bit; I used to take New Scientist on a regular basis and scarcely a week passed without them giving column space to some amazing perpetual motion machine or levitation device or other. The proof of the pudding is not in _claiming_ that you can make a hyperdrive, it’s in _doing it_, or at the very least _backing it up with some kind of real science_ - both of which have yet to happen here. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/16 "2006-01-06T15:26:16Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If this isn’t just a pile of poo (which it smells like, to me), then I’ll bet it’s going to be one of those “Of course it’s possible; all we have to do is build a perfectly rigid superconducting magnetic cylinder half the diameter of the solar system in length, then simply rotate it at half the speed of light, then just hit it with timed laser pulses equivalent in power to the output of all the stars in three average galaxies…” things Nah, it’s a lot simpler than that. Only you have to build it inside of a Dyson sphere. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/17 "2006-01-06T15:39:01Z")
Just want to point out that this is not just radical new technology being hyped, but radical new _science_ too. The operation of the hyperdrive depends upon Heim Theory, which is yet another proposed ‘Theory of Everything’, albeit one I’d never heard of until I looked at this New Scientist article (as opposed to the theory-plexes of superstrings and loop-quantum-gravity, which are all the rage in physics circles at the mo). So whilst this is new hyperdrive is very cool if it works, we’re sort of in the position of reading a newly published ‘Principia’ by Newton and going, ‘oh wow, now we can build rockets to go to the moon’. Sure, we can, but there’s also the ‘groundbreaking new theory’ aspect of it, which encompasses so much more than just a new way to get from A to B. [if the theory’s right, of course!] ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/18 "2006-01-06T15:43:45Z")
… which is why it is so unpromising that this paper got a wow award from an institute of aerodynamics, whilst nothing has been heard from the theoretical science journals. God I hope I don’t think of yet another thing after hitting submit. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/19 "2006-01-06T16:53:06Z")
OK, so Heim added two new dimensional “subspaces” onto the standard Einsteinian four dimensions. Is this pretty much the same thing as proposing a six-dimensional universe, or are “subspace” dimensions any different from six dimensions. On the basis of fewer dimensions alone, this theory appeals to me. The string theorists are always going, "We need nine dimensions to explain the universe … no make that 27 dimensions … no, hold on a minutes … 12 oughtta do it … no, make that INFINITE dimensions! I say, pick a number of dimensions and stick with it! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676/20 "2006-01-06T16:54:35Z")
Oh, and if Heim’s theory pans out, and his hyperdrive works, this is probably the least mundane and pointless thread ever to appear on the Dope. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-wed-better-head-to-alpha-centauri-pronto/338676.md?page=2)