The Ultimate Speed Limit: What Would Happen if a Human Body Reached the Speed of Light?

March 19, 2023 / esfein / Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a human body could reach the speed of light? This mind-bending concept has long intrigued scientists, science fiction writers, and the general public alike. In this article, we will explore the theoretical implications of a human body reaching the speed of light, as well as the scientific principles governing this limit. Let’s dive into this exhilarating thought experiment and uncover the fascinating physics behind the speed of light.

The Speed of Light and Relativity

The speed of light in a vacuum is approximately 299,792 kilometers per second (186,282 miles per second) [1]. This universal constant, denoted by ‘c,’ is not only essential in the field of optics but also plays a crucial role in the special theory of relativity. According to Albert Einstein’s groundbreaking theory, the speed of light is the ultimate cosmic speed limit [2]. This means that nothing with mass can reach, let alone surpass, the speed of light.

The Theory of Relativity and Time Dilation

One of the remarkable consequences of Einstein’s theory of relativity is time dilation. As an object with mass approaches the speed of light, time begins to slow down relative to a stationary observer [3]. This means that if a human were to somehow reach near-light speed, they would experience time at a slower rate compared to someone who remained on Earth. In the famous “twin paradox,” one twin traveling close to the speed of light would age more slowly than their Earth-bound sibling [4].

The Mass Increase and Kinetic Energy

Another intriguing aspect of approaching the speed of light is the effect on an object’s mass. As an object’s velocity increases, its mass also increases according to the relativistic mass formula [5]. Consequently, a human body moving at near-light speed would acquire an immense mass.

The increase in mass is accompanied by a corresponding rise in kinetic energy. As the human body approaches the speed of light, the required energy to continue accelerating increases exponentially. It would take an infinite amount of energy to propel an object with mass to the speed of light, making it physically impossible [6].

The Physical Consequences

If, hypothetically, a human body could reach the speed of light, several bizarre and lethal consequences would occur. Firstly, the human body would be subjected to immense forces due to its increased mass, making it impossible to maintain structural integrity [7]. Furthermore, the body would collide with space particles, like hydrogen atoms, at an extreme velocity, resulting in intense radiation that could destroy the body at the molecular level [8].

The Role of Wormholes and Warp Drives

While it is impossible for an object with mass to reach the speed of light, scientists have explored other means of achieving faster-than-light travel, such as wormholes and warp drives. Wormholes are theoretical tunnels in spacetime that could allow instant travel between two points in the universe [9]. On the other hand, the concept of a warp drive involves bending spacetime around a spaceship to propel it faster than the speed of light without violating the laws of physics [10]. Although these ideas remain purely theoretical, they offer an exciting glimpse into potential methods of rapid interstellar travel.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the laws of physics prevent a human body from reaching the speed of light. The consequences of approaching this cosmic speed limit include time dilation, increased mass, and a corresponding rise in kinetic energy. Despite the impossibility of light-speed travel, scientists continue to explore alternative methods, such as wormholes and warp drives, to facilitate faster-than-light exploration of our universe.

Source List:

[1] National Institute of Standards and Technology. (n.d.). Speed of Light. Retrieved from https://www.nist.gov/pml/atoms/speed-light

[2] Einstein, A. (1905). Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper. Annalen der Physik, 17, 891-921.

[3] Taylor, E. F., & Wheeler, J. A. (1992). Spacetime Physics: Introduction to Special Relativity (2nd ed.). W. H. Freeman.

[4] Langevin, P. (1911). The Evolution of Space and Time. Scientia, 10, 31-54.

[5] Okun, L. B. (1989). The Concept of Mass. Physics Today, 42(6), 31-36.

[6] Serway, R. A., & Jewett, J. W. (2018). Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.

[7] Thorne, K. S. (1994). Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy. W. W. Norton & Company.

[8] Sagan, C. (1994). Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. Random House.

[9] Morris, M. S., & Thorne, K. S. (1988). Wormholes in spacetime and their use for interstellar travel: A tool for teaching general relativity. American Journal of Physics, 56(5), 395-412.

[10] Alcubierre, M. (1994). The warp drive: hyper-fast travel within general relativity. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 11(5), L73-L77.

Fungus Feeds on Radioactivity: The Rise of Space Fungus

December 10, 2013 / esfein / Leave a comment

I think this fungus makes me taller… http://www.ecogeek.org

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AEC) have found fungus feeding on radioactivity within the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Scientists suspect that melanin, the same UV filter in our skin, is responsible for allowing these fungi to consume a mutant-creating-level of gamma radiation.

Microbiologist Arturo Casadevall learned years before this discovery that a robot had been sent into areas of intense radioactivity and had returned with samples of black, melanin rich fungi growing on the walls. He and his colleagues later saw reports that the cooling water in some working nuclear reactors turns black from colonies of melanin-rich fungi.

Related Article: Watching Evolution Occur

Don’t you see? A nuclear device would only make radiotrophic fungus stronger! http://www.sciencenews.org

Casadevall explains that,

I found that very interesting and began discussing with colleagues whether these fungi might be using the radiation emissions as an energy source.

Despite the lethal gamma radiation lingering at the Chernobyl reactor, many microorganisms find a way to survive. Casadevall thought that maybe the radiation was aiding the fungi’s growth. According to Casadevall,

The thought was that biology never wastes any energy source.

Sure enough, Casadevall’s hypothesis was correct, and after a series of tests involving 500-times normal radiation levels, electron spin resonance, close-up melanin observation, and a melanin-less albino fungus, the radiotrophic fungus was born into the minds’ of mankind. Researchers also speculate that the fungi aren’t feeding solely on gamma rays, but X-rays, UV rays and other rays as well.

Related Article: New Ecosystem Discovered: Glacier Mice

Want to know how I know reality is batshit crazy? There is life on this planet that feeds on something we can’t even see, but will destroy us from the inside out with cancer nonetheless. There is life that feeds on death!

And these would be specimens from which planet? http://www.roxypaine.com

Fungus has far more uses than you might have realized:

A fungal suit that detoxifies and feeds on your corpse
Fungus used as a material for building living, organic shipping containers;
Fungal cleaning devices,
One of the most effective tools in the field of psychotherapy

Related Article: The Evolutionary Leaps of Snails

Fungus is also cooler and better at life than you. Certain fungus species can eject their spore mass

at 35 feet per second (10.8 m per second) to a height of six feet (2 m), and lands as far away as 8 feet (2.5 m).

Fungus species pump out spores at an extremely high rate as well.

A single mushroom can launch 31,000 ballistospores per second, adding up to some 2.7 billion spores per day.

Some types of fungi can even control the air around them to create a spore-scattering breeze where there was only still air before. Check out the following videos. The first one shows a great example of spore dispersal, while the second one contains footage of a spore launch filmed with a high speed camera.

Let’s get back to the melanin study. Do you realize the study serves as a more stable foundation to support the strange, albeit utterly possible supposition that mushrooms came from outside Earth? Is it really that hard to imagine though? The notion that mushrooms came from space may be too ‘out there’ for some, but is it really that much weirder than: Lake life surviving in isolation under ice for 2800 years, the atmosphere of Titan making DNA, or sugar floating around stars? As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

Hi, my name’s fungi, I’m a fun guy, let’s hang out in your spacecraft! http://www.nbcnews.com

Just like fungus, life shows up in the strangest places and in the most bizarre forms. To end this article on an even more incredible note, would you believe me if I told you there are space mushrooms in the night sky peering into your soul?! How about mutated space mushrooms eating away at space stations? Yup, that’s a thing.

Space fungus has been growing on and within the Russian Mir-Space Station since the late ’80s. While the fungus and other microorganisms are normal terrestrial forms of life that were brought up from Earth with the cosmonauts, they fear potential mutations that 500-times higher gamma radiation exposure can induce in the fungi. After all, the fungi’s corrosive fluids are already eating through metal, plastic, and other essential materials on the space station. I wonder how much gamma radiation it takes to mutate space fungus into delicious truffles on my dinner plate…

Remember, depending on the observer, all of reality and life is strange and unexpected. To make life even more unpredictable your utterly limited self perceives less than one-billionth of reality, and that’s just the light spectrum. If fungus can teach us anything it is to never underestimate the strangeness of reality and the possibility that there may exist anything we can imagine and more.

Sources:

http://www.einstein.yu.edu/

http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0000457

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20070422222547data_trunc_sys.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=mushrooms-create-their-own-breeze-13-11-25

https://wondergressive.com/news/power-of-mushrooms/

https://wondergressive.com/news/2800-year-old-lake-life-survives-in-complete-isolation/

https://wondergressive.com/news/sweet-discovery-simple-sugar-molecules-floating-in-the-gas-around-star/

https://wondergressive.com/news/titans-atmosphere-can-make-dna/

https://wondergressive.com/news/life-its-all-over-the-place/

http://herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/funfacts/Dispersal.htm

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/01/mushroommagic/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11471823

http://www.howstuffworks.com/light4.htm

http://www.dailygrail.com/Fresh-Science/2013/7/Our-Tiny-Slice-Reality

Toothpick Surfing on Acoustic Waves and Other Levitation Implications

July 17, 2013 / esfein / Leave a comment

https://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/130716_schallwellenreiten_aj/index_EN

Toothpick Surfing on Acoustic Waves

Acoustic waves have allowed for many more objects and liquids to be levitated in mid-air than ever before. Such feats are usually performed with magnets, but the objects floating on the magnets needed to have magnetic properties. ETH, a group of researchers in Zurich, successfully levitated a toothpick in mid-air and controlled its movements using acoustic waves. With the same technique they also merged droplets of liquid.

The postdoctoral researcher involved in this study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is Daniele Foresti. Foresti made it possible for any object, regardless of its properties, (except maybe weight which is still at the experimental stage) to levitate in mid-air through the use of acoustic waves. This allows for the study of some chemical reactions involving processes that would otherwise be compromised with the contact of a surface.

Levitation via acoustic waves allows for a vast number of objects and liquids to be experimented on. The current methods we have that allow objects to reach a levitated state are magnetic levitation, electrical fields, and suspension in liquids with the help of buoyancy. The problem with magnets is the difficulty of controlling the movement of liquids. The liquids are required to have some sort of magnetic properties. Floating liquids in another liquid requires the use of immiscible liquids (not forming a homogeneous mixture when added together) such as oil and water. Acoustic waves take care of these limitations. The only limitation is the maximum diameter of the object being levitated. It has to correspond with half the acoustic wavelength being used. Levitation is achieved when all of the acting forces (gravity and acoustic waves) reach equilibrium. The force of the acoustic waves counteracts the force of gravity, which allows this state to occur.

Making Coffee on Acoustic Waves

The scientific term used to describe this phenomenon is the acoustic radiation pressure effect. This is not a new discovery, rather an alteration to a previous one that goes back to the findings of Rayleigh. However, unlike in previous studies, we can now control movement with acoustic waves. This was done by putting together multiple modules that create the acoustic waves and by switching them on to vary their wave action. This varying process is how liquid is able to move from one module to the next. Foresti used this method to merge a water droplet and a bit of instant coffee together to form coffee!