US Air Force researching "Star Trek" technology:

[Ariovistus]

AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.

The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.

The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and result in thrust for a spacecraft.

Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster, allowing incredible speeds to be reached. Switching off the magnetic field would result in the engine reappearing in our current dimension.

The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny.

Professor Jochem Hauser, one of the scientists who put forward the idea, said that if everything goes well a working engine could be tested in about five years.

However, Prof Hauser, a physicist at the Applied Sciences University in Salzgitter, Germany, and a former chief of aerodynamics at the European Space Agency, cautioned it was based on a highly controversial theory that would require a significant change in the current understanding of the laws of physics.

"It would be amazing. I have been working on propulsion systems for quite a while and it would be the most amazing thing. The benefits would be almost unlimited," he said.

"But this thing is not around the corner; we first have to prove the basic science is correct and there are quite a few physicists who have a different opinion.

"It's our job to prove we are right and we are working on that."

He said the engine would enable spaceships to travel to different solar systems. "If the theory is correct then this is not science fiction, it is science fact," Prof Hauser said.

"NASA have contacted me and next week I'm going to see someone from the [US] air force to talk about it further, but it is at a very early stage. I think the best-case scenario would be within the next five years [to build a test device] if the technology works."

The US authorities' attention was attracted after Prof Hauser and an Austrian colleague, Walter Droscher, wrote a paper called "Guidelines for a space propulsion device based on Heim's quantum theory".

Tanks,effective indirect artillery fire,helichopters,micro-wave ovens,computers, and a whole list of things were sci-fi not much longer(only for some)ago than a man's lifetime. About the only thing for sure is that the future is going to be VERY interesting and diferent from now.

[MarineAO]

Hay you got a source on this I would be intrestred in reading more if avaiable?

[Ariovistus]

Originally posted by MarineAO Hay you got a source on this I would be intrestred in reading more if avaiable?

Here you go http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...25331.200.html

Suddenly the idea of a Star Fleet isn't so far fetched anymore. Provided ofcourse the obscure and little known kind of physics researchers are relying on is true. Who knows perhaps by the end of the century the Navy would have produced its new top of the line interstellar cruisers and destroyers. Imagine a USS Agamemnon patrolling the nearest eath colony somewhere in Alpha Centauri. lol Too bad we won't be around to see it happen. Its probably just as well, who knows who or what we might run into up there. :cd:

[goodnessgracie]

You might also check out the writings of Fred Alan Wolf and Richard Feynman.

I recently read "Parallel Universes" by Wolf. In it, there are some easy-to-understand illustrations of the concepts of spinning black holes and event horizons, and the like.

What much of this magnetic field research has to do with is accelerating to the speed of light in order to access other worlds. It's kind of a pragmatic way of doing things that are already possible at the subatomic level.

Everybody sing now: "My heroes have always been theoretical physicists..."

[MarineAO]

Thanks I Apperciate your quick responce and Welcome to the boards.

[revwardoc]

What's next? "Beam me up, Scotty!"