7/23/2010 2:23:03 PM
They mentioned it in Flashforward too.... but it was very pseudo-sciency
7/23/2010 2:48:09 PM
7/23/2010 3:26:31 PM
nothing that has a rest mass can travel faster than light. yes, there are theorized quanta that travel faster, but they are in effect massless and cease to exist in their previous form when their speed reduces to that of lightno, you nor your merrygoround can reach light speed. assuming you could provide a rigid enough structure to propel a mass at that distance, it would take an infinite amount of energy to actually reach c. that is, of course, if you completely ignore special relativity. There is no degree of structural integrity immune to its effects. as each successive point further from the center gains speed, it becomes more massive, contracts spacially relative to the center, and local time slows -- therefore as the endpoint (and inward as speed increases) approaches the speed of light, it asymptotically approaches infinite mass, 0 physical space, and 0 time velocitythe view from the origin would essentially be the bar spiraling around you with increasing concentricity, even though at any point on the bar it would appear mostly straight in either directionbasically, the thought experiment fails[Edited on July 23, 2010 at 3:41 PM. Reason : the view]
7/23/2010 3:35:10 PM