Will Dark Energy Fuel Spaceships of the Future? -A Galaxy Classic

The internet was amazed by images of the world's first warpship recently, and if you're wondering how science got past the fiction so quickly, remember how Leonardo is credited with inventing the helicopter?  Despite not knowing any of the relevant aerodynamics, physics, engineering, or having any of the required skills other than "able to draw a pretty picture"?  It's the same deal.

The internet was amazed by images of the world's first warpship recently, and if you're wondering how science got past the fiction so quickly, remember how Leonardo is credited with inventing the helicopter?  Despite not knowing any of the relevant aerodynamics, physics, engineering, or having any of the required skills other than "able to draw a pretty picture"?  It's the same deal.

The internet was amazed by images of the world's first warpship recently, and if you're wondering how science got past the fiction so quickly, remember how Leonardo is credited with inventing the helicopter?  Despite not knowing any of the relevant aerodynamics, physics, engineering, or having any of the required skills other than "able to draw a pretty picture"?  It's the same deal.

Dr Richard Obousy recently gifted the Discovery channel with designs for the first "warpship", and in return they gave him more publicity than you can shake a physics consulting firm at.  Did you know Dr Obousy has a consulting firm?  You do now!  Despite containing about as many actual scientific systems as the average Buck Rogers prop, the image circulated the internet because

a) It looks really cool
b) Complete with circular-spinny bits just like in the new Star Trek movie
c) Real Science Credibility (TM) added by throwing around words like "Dark Energy"!

The idea that dark energy (still unobserved) had a key role in inflating the universe is real science, and the idea of using harnessed dark matter to squeeze and stretch space before and behind the ship (thereby sidestepping the universe's speed limit - because the ship itself isn't moving faster than light) is brilliant fun, but there are an awful lot of steps between "Coming up with a scientific idea" and "designing a cool-looking hull."  ALL the steps, actually.

The idea is fun, and Dr Obousy is a real scientist of not inconsiderable repute, but the "design" is a public relations scam of the highest order - and we mean that in a complimentary way, because it worked fantastically.   But when even the designer confesses in interviews that he has no idea what would go inside the ship, and mentions how it would have to eat Jupiter to run, it's not exactly NASA-grade.  "A pretty picture and some relevant but not actually applied words" is more science fair grade.

Posted by Luke McKinney.

Recommended Posts:

Stephen Hawking: Why Isn't the Milky Way "Crawling With Self-Designing Mechanical or Biological Life?"

"The Great Silence": Why Haven't Signs of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life Been Discovered? 

"Warpship" http://dsc.discovery.com/space/im/warp-drive.html

Dr Richard Obousy recently gifted the Discovery channel with designs for the first "warpship", and in return they gave him more publicity than you can shake a physics consulting firm at.  Did you know Dr Obousy has a consulting firm?  You do now!  Despite containing about as many actual scientific systems as the average Buck Rogers prop, the image circulated the internet because

a) It looks really cool
b) Complete with circular-spinny bits just like in the new Star Trek movie
c) Real Science Credibility (TM) added by throwing around words like "Dark Energy"!

The idea that dark energy (still unobserved) had a key role in inflating the universe is real science, and the idea of using harnessed dark matter to squeeze and stretch space before and behind the ship (thereby sidestepping the universe's speed limit - because the ship itself isn't moving faster than light) is brilliant fun, but there are an awful lot of steps between "Coming up with a scientific idea" and "designing a cool-looking hull."  ALL the steps, actually.

The idea is fun, and Dr Obousy is a real scientist of not inconsiderable repute, but the "design" is a public relations scam of the highest order - and we mean that in a complimentary way, because it worked fantastically.   But when even the designer confesses in interviews that he has no idea what would go inside the ship, and mentions how it would have to eat Jupiter to run, it's not exactly NASA-grade.  "A pretty picture and some relevant but not actually applied words" is more science fair grade.

Posted by Luke McKinney.

Recommended Posts:

Stephen Hawking: Why Isn't the Milky Way "Crawling With Self-Designing Mechanical or Biological Life?"

"The Great Silence": Why Haven't Signs of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life Been Discovered? 

"Warpship" http://dsc.discovery.com/space/im/warp-drive.html

Dr Richard Obousy recently gifted the Discovery channel with designs for the first "warpship", and in return they gave him more publicity than you can shake a physics consulting firm at.  Did you know Dr Obousy has a consulting firm?  You do now!  Despite containing about as many actual scientific systems as the average Buck Rogers prop, the image circulated the internet because

a) It looks really cool
b) Complete with circular-spinny bits just like in the new Star Trek movie
c) Real Science Credibility (TM) added by throwing around words like "Dark Energy"!

The idea that dark energy (still unobserved) had a key role in inflating the universe is real science, and the idea of using harnessed dark matter to squeeze and stretch space before and behind the ship (thereby sidestepping the universe's speed limit - because the ship itself isn't moving faster than light) is brilliant fun, but there are an awful lot of steps between "Coming up with a scientific idea" and "designing a cool-looking hull."  ALL the steps, actually.

The idea is fun, and Dr Obousy is a real scientist of not inconsiderable repute, but the "design" is a public relations scam of the highest order - and we mean that in a complimentary way, because it worked fantastically.   But when even the designer confesses in interviews that he has no idea what would go inside the ship, and mentions how it would have to eat Jupiter to run, it's not exactly NASA-grade.  "A pretty picture and some relevant but not actually applied words" is more science fair grade.

Posted by Luke McKinney.

Recommended Posts:

Stephen Hawking: Why Isn't the Milky Way "Crawling With Self-Designing Mechanical or Biological Life?"

"The Great Silence": Why Haven't Signs of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life Been Discovered? 

"Warpship" http://dsc.discovery.com/space/im/warp-drive.html

Comments

[claudio]

TUse the 'dark energy 'to fuel star ships ???

Rather COOL but somewhat fiction-like.

We do not know much about it : right ??

Regards to the fictionl stories.

[Barrie O'Leary]

I've seen Leonardo's design before, it is copied from a heavy European tree seed, the design of which allows some few of millions to to continuoulsy remain suspended in a wind and blown to fresh seeding sites a 100 metres' distance.

I've seen that warpship design before, too. It is taken straight from Carl Sagan's space transporter from his sci-fi novel "Contact." I never realised the purpose of those inner rings, so well portrayed in the movie,too, were for the purpose of extending space before and behind the pod. Well, they worked just fine in the book.

[bumpy]

My first reaction on seeing the headline was that such speculation is just a wee tad premature. Your writeup did not disappoint...

[mike]

This image is from the movie "Event Horizon " Not sure how this guy can claim credit from the image but it has nothing to do with his design.Its a movie prop plain and simple.Besides which "warping space" will wreak havoc with the space around it destroying anything in its wake.Inter dimensional will be the way to go but we are a long way off from this.

[Joel]

mike you are a idiot of the highest caliber, Professor Hubert J Farnsworth dark matter engines are the key to faster than light travel

[watchsean]

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