Is any of the technology in stargate possible?

[thekillman]

Is that your argument? I don't see any evidence there....

People with more brains, more experience and more expensive equipment don't see a need for it. show me evidence that it does or should exist.

After all, lack of evidence is what's proof that it's not there.

[jfarrell327]

People with more brains, more experience and more expensive equipment don't see a need for it. show me evidence that it does or should exist.

After all, lack of evidence is what's proof that it's not there.

Good one, you're usually the one with all of the answers or the one who tries to disprove everything in science fiction. Just because it is scifi doesn't mean it is impossible. Just because we don't have FTL or warp drives, or able to create artificial wormholes doesn't mean we won't be able to one day. We are still young but in a century or two I have no doubt that we will have an answer, most likely we will have spaceships and be colonizing Mars.

[thekillman]

Just because we don't have FTL or warp drives, or able to create artificial wormholes doesn't mean we won't be able to one day. We are still young but in a century or two I have no doubt that we will have an answer, most likely we will have spaceships and be colonizing Mars.

Except that FTL screws with Causality which is about as fundamental as Conservation of Energy. Warp drives need to violate a law of physics that prevents such things as negative mass, though *technically* we can't quite prove that law is water tight. Wormholes need negative energy to be stable too. We *technically* can't quite rule out that it's possible. However, everything points towards this being a matter of time. In a century or two, people will think our modern ideas of things like FTL as ridiculous as we think using a giant cannon to shoot to the moon is.

It looks like we'll have to colonize stuff the hard way.

the one who tries to disprove everything in science fiction.

I see a crowd of people with apparently unlimited optimism and a belief it'll all just work out. I'm an engineer, and a science enthusiast. And i feel that i need to put some things in perspective, to provide an idea of what reality's like.

Can we do some awesome stuff? sure we can. But we're talking about very fundamental scientific concepts, and this thread asks for reality. As it is so nicely said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. That EM vacuum quantum plasma whatever drive? It'll turn out that some stupid thing was wrongly engineered and that it's wrong. It's FTL neutrino's all over again. Hyperspace? There's no reason to believe it exists.

Sure, you can imitate some things. Plasma shields are things that may be possible, but you may have to squeeze your eyes and have a good imagination to make sci fi shields out of them. FTL communication depends on how quantum superposition works out exactly, though technically the matter still has to move STL to get there.

In a decade or two we'll think of something new as the sci fi tropes and people will wonder if it can really happen and someone like me will probably be there and say no.

Although sometimes truth may be stranger than fiction, with stuff like a variable Higgs Boson that may cause the annihilation of the universe. So scenario's like in "Trinity" where something may whiff out the universe may, interestingly, be very real. And on that bombshell i'd like to end

[hedwig]

In the news this week was an item about a gadget that reminded me of the Tollan's health monitor. This new gadget is something you wear on your wrist and it monitors your blood pressure and some other things in the body that can be monitored. While I'm sure the Tollan thingy did way more than this does, it's a start, and I'm willing to bet that some day we'll have something we can wear on our wrist that monitors the health of the whole body.

[hedwig]

Good one, you're usually the one with all of the answers or the one who tries to disprove everything in science fiction. Just because it is scifi doesn't mean it is impossible. Just because we don't have FTL or warp drives, or able to create artificial wormholes doesn't mean we won't be able to one day. We are still young but in a century or two I have no doubt that we will have an answer, most likely we will have spaceships and be colonizing Mars.

Did you not know that we already do, and have had for about 30 years? I was watching some shows on the History and Science Channels this week which talked about people telling tales about already having visited and lived on Mars (and the moon - on the far side of the moon where we can't observe any such thing) many years ago. I have to say I was intrigued, but I also had to scoff at the whole idea.

[jfarrell327]

Did you not know that we already do, and have had for about 30 years? I was watching some shows on the History and Science Channels this week which talked about people telling tales about already having visited and lived on Mars (and the moon - on the far side of the moon where we can't observe any such thing) many years ago. I have to say I was intrigued, but I also had to scoff at the whole idea.

Yeah but that is like conspiracy theory and no real proof. If Solar Warden is real then yes what you said is most likely true, however as far as the general public of the world is concerned its not yet.

[jfarrell327]

Not necessarily true, Killman. We can always bend space or create a wormhole and be wherever in no time. Maybe in regular space we can't travel faster than speed of light, but there is always a way around. Always.

[aretood2]

What's the possibility of using quantum entanglement for communication? We could just change the spin of one of the entangled particles to create something along the lines of binary code that computers work on. The limitations that I know of would be that one "communicator" is limited to its pair only. But the communication would be instant. Sorta like Ancient stones without the body swapping nonsense.

[thekillman]

Not necessarily true, Killman. We can always bend space or create a wormhole and be wherever in no time. Maybe in regular space we can't travel faster than speed of light, but there is always a way around. Always.

No we can't. The alcubierre drive requires negative mass, and while we *technically* can't prove it's not possible, this is in practice never observed.

Wormholes require asymptotically flat space, which is a fancy way of saying that a wormhole is stable until you thrown something in. You could never send something through a wormhole unless you have aforementioned negative mass.

Lastly, FTL breaks causality and that would turn all we've ever known right on it's head. So it's a million to one that it won't work.

Remember that FTL was invented by Sci fi writers who wanted interstellar travel without a story stretching millenia. What difficulties STL travel would bring? Well, there are some interesting books on that, but it's not pretty.

In the news this week was an item about a gadget that reminded me of the Tollan's health monitor. This new gadget is something you wear on your wrist and it monitors your blood pressure and some other things in the body that can be monitored. While I'm sure the Tollan thingy did way more than this does, it's a start, and I'm willing to bet that some day we'll have something we can wear on our wrist that monitors the health of the whole body.

Maybe it's me, but that never struck me as something supposed to be Hightech. Even at the time it sounded like something we'd have in 10, 20 years.

[destiny khan]

quantum physics will achieve many things in the near future... i read a recent paper which tried to disprove the big bang theory... i don't think it matter for us... we are users and not makers so lets wish we have a date with that female alien in the andromeda galaxy a decade later...

[thekillman]

quantum physics will achieve many things in the near future... i read a recent paper which tried to disprove the big bang theory... i don't think it matter for us... we are users and not makers so lets wish we have a date with that female alien in the andromeda galaxy a decade later...

I am an engineer and thus, a maker .

The big bang is a universally accepted theory but it's not like it has all the answers. Quantum mechanics will probably see it's fair share of modification.

But if we're truly to move on, we need a better, more fundamental theory that can actually explain concepts like time properly.

[aretood2]

No we can't. The alcubierre drive requires negative mass, and while we *technically* can't prove it's not possible, this is in practice never observed.

Wormholes require asymptotically flat space, which is a fancy way of saying that a wormhole is stable until you thrown something in. You could never send something through a wormhole unless you have aforementioned negative mass.

Lastly, FTL breaks causality and that would turn all we've ever known right on it's head. So it's a million to one that it won't work.

Remember that FTL was invented by Sci fi writers who wanted interstellar travel without a story stretching millenia. What difficulties STL travel would bring? Well, there are some interesting books on that, but it's not pretty.

I heard a talk about why light speed is the limit...it wasn't very technical thus I understood it. It had something to do with light cones, I found it very interesting. Though it doesn't bode well for things like FTL or Time travel. Right now it possible to slow time down (theoretically) until it stops relative to an observer (Black holes!!! and the stopping point is...well...death. We just don't see the death cause time stops relatively of course.)...but that's it. Nothing on how you can make it start going in reverse.

Maybe it's me, but that never struck me as something supposed to be Hightech. Even at the time it sounded like something we'd have in 10, 20 years.

I wasn't impressed. Then again, I wasn't impressed with Daniel's silly myth loaded explanation on how the Tollan could be more advanced than the Tau'ri.

I am an engineer and thus, a maker .

The big bang is a universally accepted theory but it's not like it has all the answers. Quantum mechanics will probably see it's fair share of modification.

But if we're truly to move on, we need a better, more fundamental theory that can actually explain concepts like time properly.

Perhaps all we need is more.....time

[thekillman]

Though it doesn't bode well for things like FTL or Time travel. Right now it possible to slow time down (theoretically) until it stops relative to an observer (Black holes!!! and the stopping point is...well...death. We just don't see the death cause time stops relatively of course.)...but that's it. Nothing on how you can make it start going in reverse. [/COLOR]

yes, the speed of light is fundamental. Not just to satisfy things like relativity, but also causality. With FTL, the effect can happen before the cause, which breaks quite a few things. Like, a lot of things.

Time slowing down is no big feat. In fact, if GPS satellites didn't account for time on earth going slower than in space, it would never properly work and deviate by dozens to hundreds of meters. Even the sun causes gravity lensing effects. So yes, time slowing down is a very real thing. In fact, it's already measurable on an intercontinental flight.

I wasn't impressed. Then again, I wasn't impressed with Daniel's silly myth loaded explanation on how the Tollan could be more advanced than the Tau'ri.

Something with the dark ages right? Sure technologically it wasn't that impressive but it's not like time just stood still for ~1000 years either. Hell, most of the bad rep for the medieval times came from after that period, from snobs who thought the Greek and Romans did everything better.

[thekillman]

Though it doesn't bode well for things like FTL or Time travel. Right now it possible to slow time down (theoretically) until it stops relative to an observer (Black holes!!! and the stopping point is...well...death. We just don't see the death cause time stops relatively of course.)...but that's it. Nothing on how you can make it start going in reverse. [/COLOR]

yes, the speed of light is fundamental. Not just to satisfy things like relativity, but also causality. With FTL, the effect can happen before the cause, which breaks quite a few things. Like, a lot of things.

Time slowing down is no big feat. In fact, if GPS satellites didn't account for time on earth going slower than in space, it would never properly work and deviate by dozens to hundreds of meters. Even the sun causes gravity lensing effects. So yes, time slowing down is a very real thing. In fact, it's already measurable on an intercontinental flight.

I wasn't impressed. Then again, I wasn't impressed with Daniel's silly myth loaded explanation on how the Tollan could be more advanced than the Tau'ri.

Something with the dark ages right? Sure technologically it wasn't that impressive but it's not like time just stood still for ~1000 years either. Hell, most of the bad rep for the medieval times came from after that period, from snobs who thought the Greek and Romans did everything better.

[aretood2]

yes, the speed of light is fundamental. Not just to satisfy things like relativity, but also causality. With FTL, the effect can happen before the cause, which breaks quite a few things. Like, a lot of things.

Time slowing down is no big feat. In fact, if GPS satellites didn't account for time on earth going slower than in space, it would never properly work and deviate by dozens to hundreds of meters. Even the sun causes gravity lensing effects. So yes, time slowing down is a very real thing. In fact, it's already measurable on an intercontinental flight.

Forgot about that.

Something with the dark ages right? Sure technologically it wasn't that impressive but it's not like time just stood still for ~1000 years either. Hell, most of the bad rep for the medieval times came from after that period, from snobs who thought the Greek and Romans did everything better.

Well, perhaps I am being a bit harsh. It was just way too simplistic and it missed the point behind the history of technological development and the factors involved in it. Just like Star Trek's version of evolution. It doesn't lead to intelligent life and then to Q as if it is a natural predetermined course (barring divine intervention...)

Technological development isn't a set course where we can say it'll take X number of years for the wheel to be invented and from their, Y number of years later this will be developed and so on. Any civilization could have easily over passed Tauri technology just by having different geographical situations. The dark ages didn't slow down technological development because of ideology, it just wasn't sought after because it lacked the necessary resources for it. The whole power vacuum and the lack of a state and wide economy and educational system really hampered any progress.

If anything Daniel should have mentioned that had the development of the modern nation state in Europe having taken place earlier, we could potentially have experienced our industrial revolution earlier...given the right conditions. If the Roman Empire had divided into smaller yet stable competing nation states, and the Middle Eastern powers cut them off from the Silk Road, then exploration would have taken place a lot earlier with the attempt to find new land. Of course they'd need sailing and navigational technologies that didn't quite exists yet...I am getting ahead of myself.