Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site iitcs.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!columbia!topaz!packard!desoto!cbdkc1!cbosgd!ihnp4!iitcs!draughn From: draughn@iitcs.UUCP (Mark Draughn) Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: FTL Travel Message-ID: <154@iitcs.UUCP> Date: Wed, 7-Aug-85 22:16:15 EDT Article-I.D.: iitcs.154 Posted: Wed Aug 7 22:16:15 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 13-Aug-85 02:58:10 EDT References: <2702@topaz.ARPA> <1622@orca.UUCP> <813@ncoast.UUCP> <436@utastro.UUCP> Reply-To: draughn@iitcs.UUCP (Mark draughn) Organization: Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Il. Lines: 15 The annoying thing about the idea of FTL travel is what happens when an object travels faster than the speed of light. It's relativistic mass drops to zero. At least the real part does. The imaginary part shows up, and then dwindles away toward zero as velocity increases without bound. The problem with FTL travel then depends on what "imaginary" means in the real world. (It's easy to forget that "imaginary" is just a word and assume that all this means that objects traveling above the speed of light have no mass. Depending on one's school of thought, this may or may not make FTL travel impossible.) I don't know what "imaginary mass" means in the real world, and I don't think anyone else knows either. Mark Draughn ihnp4!iitcs!draughn P.S. Of course you can't just accellerate up through the speed of light. Coming from the lower side of c, mass increases toward infinity.