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Random thought ensues.
Hyperspace is a stock concept in science fiction. In real life, the
universe is a big place... so big that even moving at the speed of
light, you're going to slowly to get anywhere in a reasonable (to human
perceptions) span of time. And don't forget the absolutely insane
amounts of energy required to rev a ship up to even .5c...
In fiction, hyperspace cheats these problems by moving through another
dimension where different rules apply. Common variations include
hyperspace being purely Newtonian (with no "cosmic speed limit"), or all
points being contiguous in hyperspace, so you just jump into hyperspace
from Earth and immediately jump out again on Alpha Centauri. Larry Niven
has a slightly different take: In his hyperspace, there's only one
speed, and you can't stop, so a voyage from point A to point B always
takes the same amount of time, no matter how fast or slow your ship.
Asimov's hyperspace is of the "jump in, jump out" variety, but there
gravity is a repulsive force: being near a large mass (like the sun)
twists space and makes your path unpredictable. A "faster" ship means a
a better real-space motor (so you can get outside a star's gravity well
more quickly) and better computers (so you can jump more accurately and
thus make fewer corrections).
Though these are ideas of science fiction, they would have real-world
ramifications, and a good author can use these to whip up stories. For
example, robots attempting to solve the mathematics involving Asimovian
hyperspace became catatonic or schizoid, because they couldn't handle
the idea of humans blinking out of existence-- even if they reappeared a
moment later. And in a Newtonian universe, with no limit on propagation,
would have this interesting property: Anything that happens anywhere in
the universe happens EVERYWHERE, simultaneously. (In our world, we're
each individual universes, to an extent-- something that has happened
where I am hasn't happened where you are until my "time cone" reaches you.)
Anyway. The thought: A hyperspace in which the speed limit sets a LOWER
bound, not an upper one. You can move arbitrarily faster than x, but
never more slowly.
Discuss.
--
[The address listed is a spam trap. To reply, take off every zig.]
Richard Clayton
Random thought ensues.
Hyperspace is a stock concept in science fiction. In real life, the
universe is a big place... so big that even moving at the speed of
light, you're going to slowly to get anywhere in a reasonable (to human
perceptions) span of time. And don't forget the absolutely insane
amounts of energy required to rev a ship up to even .5c...
In fiction, hyperspace cheats these problems by moving through another
dimension where different rules apply. Common variations include
hyperspace being purely Newtonian (with no "cosmic speed limit"), or all
points being contiguous in hyperspace, so you just jump into hyperspace
from Earth and immediately jump out again on Alpha Centauri. Larry Niven
has a slightly different take: In his hyperspace, there's only one
speed, and you can't stop, so a voyage from point A to point B always
takes the same amount of time, no matter how fast or slow your ship.
Asimov's hyperspace is of the "jump in, jump out" variety, but there
gravity is a repulsive force: being near a large mass (like the sun)
twists space and makes your path unpredictable. A "faster" ship means a
a better real-space motor (so you can get outside a star's gravity well
more quickly) and better computers (so you can jump more accurately and
thus make fewer corrections).
Though these are ideas of science fiction, they would have real-world
ramifications, and a good author can use these to whip up stories. For
example, robots attempting to solve the mathematics involving Asimovian
hyperspace became catatonic or schizoid, because they couldn't handle
the idea of humans blinking out of existence-- even if they reappeared a
moment later. And in a Newtonian universe, with no limit on propagation,
would have this interesting property: Anything that happens anywhere in
the universe happens EVERYWHERE, simultaneously. (In our world, we're
each individual universes, to an extent-- something that has happened
where I am hasn't happened where you are until my "time cone" reaches you.)
Anyway. The thought: A hyperspace in which the speed limit sets a LOWER
bound, not an upper one. You can move arbitrarily faster than x, but
never more slowly.
Discuss.
--
[The address listed is a spam trap. To reply, take off every zig.]
Richard Clayton
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