Chapter 314 - Faster-Than-Light! (2)
Chapter 314: Faster-Than-Light! (2)
Chapter 314 – Faster-Than-Light! (2)
“It isn’t moving at all.”
When Chen Yu finished speaking, another barrage of bullet comments flooded the various livestream rooms.
[?]
[???]
[Qiao Biluo: Yes, it doesn’t move. The one that moves is me.]
[How can it reach FTL speeds if it doesn’t move? Does it rely on love?]
[Light speed depends on fate. If you’re fated, you’ll naturally surpass it.]
Chen Yu deliberately removed his protective suit’s left glove to take a look at the audience’s bullet comments. However, seeing that the comments were so numerous they had blacked out his watch’s screen, he couldn’t help but give up on his notion. “There are too many bullet comments for me to get a clear look. However, even without reading the comments, I can tell what everyone wants to say. How can a spacecraft exceed the speed of light if it doesn’t move?
The related principles can be considered both simple and complicated at the same time. I will try to use plain and easy-to-understand language to answer your confusion and let you feel the magic of future technology.
“First of all, there is a prerequisite to the assumption that the speed of light is insurmountable. I hope everyone can be clear on this point first.
“The speed of light is the highest speed an object can move at. According to the well-known mass-energy conversion formula: E=mc², where E represents energy, m represents mass, and c² represents the speed of light squared, when an object’s moving speed reaches one-quarter the speed of light, its mass will increase with further increase in speed. Meanwhile, the faster the object’s speed, the greater the object’s mass will become.
“If an object continues to accelerate to a point where it is nearing the speed of light, which is approximately 300,000 kilometers per second, its mass will tend to be infinite.
“Hence, according to this formula, an object with mass can never reach or exceed the speed of light. This is the premise for the speed of light to be insurmountable!
“Meanwhile, the reason why photons can achieve such a high speed is that the mass of the photons is completely converted into energy, which maximizes their speed.”
Stretching out a finger, Chen Yu said clearly, “According to this premise, objects with mass cannot exceed the speed of light. Conversely, doesn’t that mean objects without mass can go beyond the speed of light?
“The answer is…yes.
“So long as an object does not carry mass and information, it is allowed to go beyond light speed. For example, the wave function of quantum mechanics, tachyonic particles, and the expansion of space! These are a few typical examples.
“The birth of the universe and the Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago, but the scope of the universe is far more than just 13.8 billion light-years. This means that the speed at which space expands exceeds the speed of light. Moreover, since space expansion does not carry information, it does not violate the theory of relativity. It has fulfilled the requirements to exceed light speed.
“Now that I’ve spoken up to this point, I’m sure some people among the audience have already guessed how this spacecraft will exceed the speed of light.
“Yes.” Nodding, Chen Yu spoke in an excited tone, “The spacecraft doesn’t move. Instead, it controls the space around it to move! Because the expansion and contraction of space do not carry information by nature, space can expand and contract faster than light. Meanwhile, by manipulating the space around it to contract or expand at speeds faster than light, the spacecraft that is ‘wrapped’ inside this space can also move faster than light!
“This is the principle behind the spacecraft’s FTL travel!”
[Crap!]
[I as well +1]
[Dumbfounded…]
[You can even cheat the system in such a manner?]
[I’m a little confused. Is there anyone that can give me an easier explanation?]
[It’s very simple. The spacecraft simply manipulates the space in front of it to contract and the space behind it to expand. In turn, this will help drag and propel the spacecraft forward.]
[Cool…]
[I still don’t quite understand. Shouldn’t the space wrapped around the spacecraft be considered to carry information as well?]
[It doesn’t carry information. This is purely a change in space. The spacecraft enclosed in the space has not moved at all. If we go by your logic and the space encompassing the spacecraft is considered to be carrying information, how can the stars at the edge of the universe move away faster than the speed of light?]
[This sounds crazy. Where will the spacecraft get so much energy…]
“Where will the large amount of energy required to pull off such an operation come from?” Facing the camera, Chen Yu spread his hands and said, “There will certainly be some viewers who will ask such a question. This proves that your thinking is still at the level of ‘energy propulsion.’ Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’re dumb. On the contrary, the fact that you managed to think of this operation’s energy aspect shows that you have excellent thinking. The only problem is that the knowledge of modern humans and future humans is different. Hence, your thinking is limited to the knowledge framework of the 21st century.
“At this point, we know that the spacecraft itself doesn’t move. Instead, the one that moves is space. Meanwhile, the manipulation of space doesn’t actually consume the energy currently used by humans. This includes hydrogen, antimatter, planetary energy, stellar energy, and even black hole energy… None of them are needed.
“Instead, there is only one thing needed to manipulate space, and its name is—dark matter.”
After saying so, Chen Yu stood up and pulled off a piece of mahogany from the chair. The piece of timber then transformed into a piece of red chalk.
After adjusting the camera angle, Chen Yu crouched down and began writing a series of words on the ground using the chalk. “What is dark matter? Jacobus Kapteyn was the first to suggest the existence of dark matter using stellar velocities as early as 1922. However, even until 2021, nobody has managed to detect its existence directly. We have only used some potentially real evidence to prove the existence of this substance.
“Congratulations, Mr. Kapteyn, your theory is correct. Dark matter exists. And…”
Raising his hand, Chen Yu pointed at the ball to his left and said, “It is inside the ball on this spacecraft’s left side!
“According to the analysis of human conjectures on dark matter in the 20th century, the following properties have been derived.
“One: Dark matter participates in gravitational interaction, and it possibly has mass.
“Two: Dark matter should be highly stable.
“Three: Dark matter does not participate in electromagnetic interaction. It also doesn’t participate in photon interaction. Hence, we can’t see it.
“Four: The moving speed of dark matter should be much lower than the speed of light. Otherwise, the universe would not be able to expand to such an extent under the action of gravity.”
Standing up, Chen Yu used his foot to scratch away the third entry before saying, “I have integrated the spacecraft’s tutorial information with myself, so I have a general understanding of dark matter. The third property is wrong. Dark matter interacts with photons, but the interaction is incredibly weak.
“Aside from the three correct properties, dark matter has two other important properties. One: It causes the universe to shrink; Two: It is evaporating.
“The evaporation I am talking about is just an adjective. More precisely, dark matter carries out an unknown reaction that radiates an energy body called dark energy. Dark energy has negative pressure and negative energy beyond imagination. Meanwhile, it is precisely dark energy that is causing the universe to expand!
“That’s right. People in the global physics and astronomy communities, it is now time to update your universe model and textbooks. Dark matter is certainly disappearing because it is constantly generating new dark energy. Moreover, it is doing so at an increasingly faster rate. This also explains why the universe’s expansion speed is getting faster and faster.”
Tossing the chalk away, Chen Yu faced the camera and spread out his arms. “At this point, everyone should know how an FTL spacecraft manipulates space.
“This spacecraft’s left ball contains a lot of compressed dark matter, while the right ball is a vacuum.
“When the spacecraft enters space, the seal on the left ball is turned off, and through xxx method, the dark matter will be used to shrink the cosmic space surrounding the left ball.
Simultaneously, the spacecraft will decompose part of the dark matter into dark energy and introduce it into the right ball to expand the cosmic space there.
“Once the spacecraft’s orientation is changed so that the left ball is facing the forward direction and the right ball is facing the rearward direction, the spacecraft will begin advancing at speeds faster than light! Meanwhile, no matter how high the target speed is, no acceleration is required. Within one second, or even one microsecond, the spacecraft can accelerate from zero to hundreds of times the speed of light!
“Technology has finally defeated the universe.”