12 replies to this topic

[trapp17]

Quote

Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that is fundamentally a 'shortcut' through space and time. Spacetime can be viewed as a 2D surface and when 'folded' over, a wormhole bridge can be formed. A wormhole has at least two mouths which are connected to a single throat or tube. If the wormhole is traversable, matter can 'travel' from one mouth to the other by passing through the throat. While there is no observational evidence for wormholes, spacetimes-containing wormholes are known to be valid solutions in general relativity.

Faster-than-light travel
Special relativity only applies locally. Wormholes allow superluminal (faster-than-light)travel by ensuring that the speed of light is not exceeded locally at any time. While traveling through a wormhole, subluminal(slower-than-light) speeds are used. If two points are connected by a wormhole, the time taken to traverse it would be less than the time it would take a light beam to make the journey if it took a path through the space outside the wormhole. However, a light beam traveling through the wormhole would always beat the traveler. As an analogy,running around to the opposite side of a mountain at maximum speed may take longer than walking through a tunnel crossing it. You can walk slowly while reaching your destination more quickly because the distance is smaller.

Eintein's special relativity theory explains that speed of light is the speed limit,

basically a wormhole is a shortcut, by folding spacetime, thus allowing us to travel faster than the speed of light




do you guys think its possible?

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Edited by rvalkass, 26 March 2009 - 07:39 AM.

[rvalkass]

They are sometimes solutions to certain relativity problems, so might be possible. However, the problem is a lack of evidence. No-one has yet found proof of the existence of wormholes, or possible areas they could exist or anything. All we have are equations describing possible forms for what they could look like, and impressions of what they would look like to an observer.

[Alex Cicala]

The theory of black holes is similar to a Worm hole. I believe. trapp17 you are speaking fact although as rvalkass said there is no hard proof as to the existence of these worm holes.

[ZettaAIR]

Part of my sort of believes in Wormholes.... I mean, even if we haven't explored anything out of our solar system, I still believe in them. There could be life outside in the neighboring galaxy, or maybe thousands and thousands of lightyears away. There must be some kind of transportation available. What if living creatures in space can create "artificial" wormholes using insanely advanced technology. You never know..... This is only my opinion. You can question me, deny me, but don't be disrespectful. =)

[rogerthecamel]

The problem with "bending" space time to create wormholes is that it hinges on the idea that we can manipulate the shape of space in any way. One common analogy is that space is "spherical" like the earth but in more dimensions. So going the long way is like travelling from one end of the earth to the other around the earth, while a wormhole would go straight through. Given the size of the earth this would go from a 20,000km trip to a 12,700km trip, which isn't a huge drop in distance. Then you have to consider the fact that you don't always want to travel to the opposite side. The advantages of distance reduce as the target gets closer and closer to us, meaning we might only see a decent speed increase if we want to travel to the opposite side of the universe, and the time reduction would be less than 50%. So a 10 million light year trip would now be a brief 6 million light years away.

Admittedly these ratios might not stand true for more dimensions and the distances might be able to be significantly reduced. But the idea of having a machine that can "bend" the entire universe seems highly unlikely. Maybe though it will be like travelling through space by moving the entire universe rather than just yourself. Maybe we will be able to "bend" our own personal space to shift like this.

[jaychant]

I think wormholes can exist. Einstein at first dismissed the black hole he thought he saw as impossible, but it turned out to be real.

[rogerthecamel]

Its more the notion of causing a bend in space to connect two points that doesn't seem to sit well. Unless creating a wormhole is more like bending the local space around the region of each end of the wormhole, in effect moving them closer together without effecting the rest of the universe... yes I like that, I think using that logic wormholes could definitely exist.

[rpgsearcherz]

Heh, my view is that anything is possible... Looking at the theory and how it would supposedly work, I find it extremely hard to believe, but look at other things people didn't believe. Like Wifi. Who would have thought you can send computer data through the air, and make it only go to the one PC it was sent to, without being able to hear, see, etc. it?

So, although I feel it's a long shot....I guess it is in fact possible.

I think Star Trek talked about them as well, right? I never watched it but I think they did the "super fast" space traveling.

[rogerthecamel]

Super fast space travel I think is supposed to be different from wormhole theory. Im only really basing this on star gate but they were usually pretty accurate with some theories out there. Near the end they had ships which travelled thru subspace to get places faster, but wormhole travel (aka stargate) was still much much faster.

Well really, as soon as they had radio, and as soon as they had computers, wifi wasn't that far away. Wifi messages broadcast everywhere, they don't direct to one computer, they just implement encryption to stop anyone from listening in or getting muddled with their own data.

[miladinoski]

Yep, I do think that it's possible, too bad that it hasn't been proven, I see it as a way of travel from one place or another, and others see it as a way to get back into time. I haven't researched around this topic, but I agree with rpgsearcherz that 100 years ago no-one could've imagined travel of data like these via something called the Internet, why should we make the same mistake and think the same about wormholes?

Imagine the whole planet gets swallowed by a gigantic wormhole! Fantastic! ... or maybe not ...