Warp Drive, When? Frequently Asked Questions * What about UFOs? * What is the U.S. government doing to investigate UFOs? * How Accurate is science fiction to predict future? * What are tachyons? * What are black holes? * Are Wormholes real? * How long before we have a breakthrough - any historic examples to compare to? * What about "Cold Fusion"? * What about "Gravity Shielding" with spinning superconductors out of Finland/Russia? * How can I get more information? * What subjects would one study to get involved with these explorations? * Can NASA engineers evaluate my invention, drawing or plans? * How come I get a blank page when printing? What about UFOs? There is an expression that engineers use: "signal to noise ratio." It refers to the difficulty of getting the real signal, say a voice over the telephone, to stand out and be heard above all the noise and clutter that is also on the line. On the subject of UFOs the signal to noise ratio is so abysmal, that it does no good to listen. That whole subject is really irrelevant to our own human quest to travel to space. If we humans are going to figure out how to build space vehicles, then WE have to build our own space vehicles. It doesn't matter if it has or has not been done by someone else. Its been suggested that we might have something to learn by studying UFO stories. I disagree. First there is this signal to noise ratio problem. Even if the stories are correct, they are only as useful as science fiction. Science fiction can be useful to give you some mental picture to get you started thinking about the real issues, but it is no more useful than that. Even if UFOs were completely real, which is doubtful, and even if I had a film of one in front of me, it wouldn't be of much help. For example, if someone in the previous century saw a film of a 747 flying past, it would not tell them how to build a jet engine, what fuel to use, or what materials to make it out of. Yes, the wings are a clue, but just that, a clue. To do real work, to really determine how to build the next generations of vehicles, we need our own information. There are plenty of possibilities for credible approaches emerging from our own scientific literature. It would be a waste of our limited time to go chasing down mere hearsay. What is the U.S. government doing to investigate UFOs? How accurate is science fiction to predict future? Science fiction has played a much larger role in inspiring youngsters to help shape the future than in being an accurate predictor of the future. Although examples have been given for how well Jules Verne's story matched Apollo (3 people launched from a peninsula), also consider how much he missed: It was a rocket, not a cannon, and best of all, when we did it for real the whole world could watch it as one united people on their television sets. That was an awesome factor in and of itself. A real benefit for the good of all humanity. The world was one on that day. What are tachyons? Tachyons are hypothetical faster-than-light particles. Physicists asked themselves, "What would be the characteristics of matter if it did move faster than light?" -- a kind of thought experiment. One odd thing is that to slow down a tachyon, you would have to put energy into it. In fact, it would take infinite energy to get it to slow down to the speed of light - that is if it has any mass. That brings me to the next interesting point - one way to view the momentum of tachyons is to consider that they have imaginary mass. So far any attempt to observe a tachyon has come up dry, and most physicists have abandoned the idea that tachyons might be real. The only tempting recent clue was a recent measure of the rest mass of a neutrino. They got an imaginary number. This result was NOT attributed to tachyon properties, in fact, the experimental report attributed the results to possible errors in some of the supporting information used to make the calculations. To learn a little more about tachyons, visits the Usenet Physics FAQÕs on tachyons. What are black holes? When a star collapses and becomes super dense, its gravity becomes so strong that light can't even escape. That is why it is black - no light. Although they are considered to be real, there is still room for debate on whether they really exist. Are Wormholes real? That is still completely unknown. Wormholes are just theoretical constructs, and we are still not sure if the theories are correct. Astronomical searchers are underway to look for evidence of wormholes, but nothing has been found. How long before we have a breakthrough - any historic examples to compare to? We have two answers to that: First, borrowing a fitting analogy given by Robert Forward; It was originally thought that the apparent excess energy of radium was in error. It only took 3 decades from the confirmation of what became known as "radio active decay" (1911) to the construction of the first working nuclear reactor (1942). We just recently confirmed that this vacuum fluctuation energy is real. Who knows if a parallel exists here. Will it only be 3 decades before we have machines that can take advantage of this medium? Who knows? Second answer: Even if it will not be in my lifetime or my children's lifetime or even if it is impossible, I am firmly convinced that we as a society will gain far more from trying to make such breakthroughs happen than if we didn't. This is a noble and honorable cause, and I find it much more gratifying than designing weapons. What about Cold Fusion? First, this effect should NEVER have been dubbed "cold fusion." It should have been called an "anomalous heat effect." That means you don't know what's going on, but it involves heat. The part about "we don't know what's going on" is still very true. Most evidence points to this being a dead end, but not all the evidence. If I recall correctly, about 30% or the replications for producing heat work, and 70% do not. The evidence also does not indicate that a normal nuclear reaction is occurring. Heat?- maybe, sometimes. Nuclear fusion as we know it?- no. It is not being studied very seriously in the US, in fact it is generally frowned upon, but some countries like France and Japan are still looking into it. If it is real and if it is useful, then someday, someone will make a practical and unambiguous device out of it. If it is not real, you're still probably going to be hearing lots of stories about it for years to come -- an "Elvis sighting" phenomena. What about this "Gravity Shielding" thing with spinning superconductors out of Finland/Russia? For those of you who haven't heard about this, it was reported in 1992 that objects appeared to weigh less over a spinning superconductor. The experiments were performed in Finland by a Russian researcher named Podkletnov. There has not yet been a conclusive and credible test of this effect, but we're working on it. It's still an open question. NASA is looking into this one directly. Specifically NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is attempting to duplicate the experiment to see if the claimed effect exists, and if it does, to determine what's really going on. These investigations will probably take through the rest of 1997 before they have anything substantial to report one way or another. To be fully open minded about such things, one has to be equally ready to accept that there is, and that there is NOT new effects being discovered here. What is wrong and premature is to dub this effect a "Gravity Shield." It is better to call this an "anomalous weight change effect". We won't know for sure what it is until it has actually been confirmed and more fully analyzed. The original reports on this subject were unquestionably insufficient. How can I get more information on such topics? Stay tuned to this web site and to the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics website. Also check out the annotated bibliography on this site and visit your nearest library. Also, you may wish to check out the Usenet Physics FAQ. What subjects would one study to get involved with these explorations? Physics and Engineering, in particular: * Quantum Physics * Special Relativity * General Relativity * Electronic Engineering * Aerospace Engineering Can NASA engineers evaluate my invention, drawing or plans? We receive hundreds of requests each month from individuals who want NASA to comment on their ideas. Typically these submissions do not contain the kind of information needed for an evaluation, or they are too complex to be easily evaluated. NASA does not have enough scientists and engineers to evaluate such ideas in addition to their regular duties. To submit an idea that can be evaluated by NASA, please adhere to the guidelines specified in the NASA booklet entitled "Guidance for the Preparation and Submission of Unsolicited Proposals." Such submissions require that the idea has been developed sufficiently that a specific proposal can be made. If your idea is still in the early stages of development and you are looking for guidance, seek out the assistance of a local university or other educational institute. If you have a breakthrough device or theory that you feel is ready to be put to the test, consider having a local university or other educational institute test your idea. The university can propose to conduct the test as an educational student project, where the students will learn first-hand about the scientific method and how to apply systematic rigor and open-mindedness in conducting a credible test of an incredible claim. In such collaborations it is suggested that the inventors retain full intellectual property rights, and that the universities make the proposal and receive all the funds to conduct these student educational projects. With this procedure, if the device or theory works, then supporting evidence would be established in a credible fashion and the originator would retain the intellectual property rights. If the device or theory does not work, then at least the students would have had a meaningful educational experience, and the concept's originator can work on another idea. Potential funding for such tests may be available from existing educational fund sources, but presently there is no known funding that is specifically aimed to support these kind of educational and idea testing programs. How come I get a blank page when printing? The formatting of these pages uses dark backgrounds and light foreground colors to increase the visual presentation on your monitor. Most web browsers have an "Options" menu from which you can specify your own backgrounds and text colors. By eliminating the background and setting the text colors to black, you can print a good copy from your printer. This option can be toggled off and on using an override buttom in the options menu. Contents * Why is interstellar travel so tough? * From Inspirations to Inventions * Ideas based on what we know * Ideas based on what weÕd like to achieve * Some Emerging Possibilities * Links to Related NASA Activities * So, can we do it? * Frequently Asked Questions