Save the Whales
November 10, 2008
The purpose of the warp drives was so the USS Enterprise and other space vehicles could circumvent the current limitations of space-time. Currently we have two problems: it is not possible to exceed the speed of light and the issue with relativity. It takes would take many years going at the fastest speed in order to reach even the closest star. The warp drive allows the crew to be moved long distances without breaking a sweat. Also, somehow, the warp drive allows the crew to avoid traveling to the future faster than they intend. Consequently the faster than light speed travel allows the ship to travel back in time by means of a slingshot around the sun and extend beyond its light cone. The technology also exists that allows communications instantly from light years away.
A second technology would be the beaming up device. Such a device must exist in order to show how one can move from space ship to ground and back again without aid of a smaller transport ship (parking would also not be a problem) as I think I read one of the books that most Star Trek ships do not land on planets. I am NOT an avid Star Trek fan but I do not have anything the show and have seen only tidbits. Therefore I am not that familiar with the transporter. My guess is that it meant to convert matter into energy as light or something. We would know how much energy we are and could theoretical calculates how energetic the beam would be. However the problem lies in how do we convert matter, how do we convert it back, control it as a beam, aim it, preserve life and the order of the matter ect…I bet in a thousand years if any survivors remain they will wonder why we never had beaming up machines as it was “so simple”. If the beamer worked as some sort of magic tractor beam then we could theoretically know how much work and therefore energy would need to be injected assuming 100%. But, once again, we are confronted with the myriad problems: how do they control it, keep the subject from dieing, make the subject essentially incorporeal, aim it, what happens if you get stuck during a power outage ect…In short, the transporter made things able to happen faster in the plot that would otherwise be interrupted by long scenes of people waiting or to simply allow heroes and heroines to get to the action quick.
One Response to “Save the Whales”
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November 17th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Good job identifying the problems with interstellar travel. You could have done a bit more research on the transporter (or “beaming up device” as you call it) and some of its potential problems. You correctly identified many of them, but it was clear you were just guessing about the idea behind it.