# sub-atomic particles

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sub-atomic-particles/194866>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 13, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sub-atomic-particles/194866 "2003-08-13T08:05:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kidneymilk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df788c/32.png) [@kidneymilk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneymilk)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sub-atomic-particles/194866/1 "2003-08-13T08:05:42Z")

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What are tachyons? What is known about them? What are possible future uses do they have for humans?

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sub-atomic-particles/194866/2 "2003-08-13T12:13:59Z")

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[About tachyons.](http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Tachyon.html)

There have been suggestions regarding using their “faster than light” capability for the “warp drive” travel beloved of SF novels, but [this page](http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/ParticleAndNuclear/tachyons.html) also mentions aspirations to try to use tachyons for high-speed communications.

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**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sub-atomic-particles/194866/3 "2003-08-13T12:22:35Z")

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tachyons are FTL particles with imaginery rest mass that are allowed by relativity, they’ve never been detected and in all probailty don’t exist.