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Interstellar Hydrogen Prevents Light-Speed Travel?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the einstein-brought-in-backup dept.

garg0yle writes "As if relativity wasn't enough to prevent us traveling at light speed, Professor William Edelstein of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is now claiming that the interstellar hydrogen, compressed in front of the ship, would bring the journey to a shocking end. 'As the spaceship reached 99.999998 per cent of the speed of light, "hydrogen atoms would seem to reach a staggering 7 teraelectron volts," which for the crew "would be like standing in front of the Large Hadron Collider beam."'"

11 of 546 comments (clear)

  1. Fuckin' Noobs by jim_v2000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's what the deflector array is for.

    --
    Don't take life so seriously. No one makes it out alive.
  2. Damn it, now they tell me by verbalcontract · · Score: 5, Funny

    And I was just about to get into my 99.999998% lightspeed spaceship.

  3. Let's just hope... by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's just hope the engine controls aren't made by Toyota, or it'll be hitting that speed whether the crew want or not.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  4. simple solution: by notgm · · Score: 5, Funny

    put a hydrogen-atom-splitter on the bow of the ship, they'll just get cut in half and fall out of the way.

    1. Re:simple solution: by jbeaupre · · Score: 5, Funny

      You joke, but that might be an actual solution. If you can go that fast, why not postulate some other technology. Something that causes hydrogen to have a 50% probability of being on the left, 50% on the right. Just for a microsecond. Let it collapse back to the middle once you've gone past.

      Really you'd want to create some sort of probability donut. Fly right through the middle. I propose calling it the Homer-Schrodinger shield.

      --
      The world is made by those who show up for the job.
    2. Re:simple solution: by Mr+Z · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hmmm.... something tells me that cutting a large number of single protons in half right in front of the ship would more than double their problems....

      --
      Program Intellivision!
  5. easy solution by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

    All you have to do is navigate around the hydrogen atoms.

  6. Re:Do keep up, dear boy... by jgtg32a · · Score: 4, Funny

    You did not just link me to a astrophysics article of wiki that's worse than tv tropes for me
     
    I'm at 8 articles from just the first link you provided.

  7. Re:True, But Irrelevant... by arielCo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not bloody likely.

    Likely bloody. Very bloody.

    --
    This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
  8. Re:old news... by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thereby increasing, almost infinitely, the improbability of any FTL technology - thusly ensuring success for a system that harnesses improbability as a motive power.

    --
    "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
  9. Re:old news... by AmigaMMC · · Score: 5, Funny
    >As the spaceship reached 99.999998 per cent of the speed of light, "hydrogen atoms would seem to reach a staggering 7 teraelectron volts," which for the crew "would be like standing in front of the Large Hadron Collider beam

    ...

    Since most of the time the LHC is down that doesn't seem like a big problem :-p

    Ok, big fan of the LHC, but just had to say it