With all these arguments over firing weapons in space, here's a question
for all the physicists on the list (I foolishly did geology, where the
physics part is insignificant compared to all the cobblers about mineral
exploration... YAWN!):
Just how fast is the speed of light? No, that's not a stupid question -
I know it's rated as roughly 3x10^8 metres per second in a vacuum - but
what I mean is, what if the vessel which is firing the laser beams
(assuming the energy bolts they fire in Star Trek et al are light, or
some sort of EM radiation) is travelling faster than light, viz. warp
speed? I haven't seen anything which suggests that phasers etc. don't
work except in "normal" space (except that Captain Picard waited until
the USS Stargazer had dropped out of warp before letting "everything" go
at that Ferengi ship when he did the Picard manoeuvre). Basically, if
you travel at light speed and shine a torch out the back of the ship,
are the photons left standing still or do they leave with a relative
speed of 2c? (It could be that they always travel with speed c. with
relation to the entire universe, ie. the ether, but that's probably as
outdated an idea as phlogesten).
Come on, come on! I've been waiting ages for someone to send me a
flame!
Dave "If you can't stand the heat, why the hell did you go to
Australia?" Chilard
for all the physicists on the list (I foolishly did geology, where the
physics part is insignificant compared to all the cobblers about mineral
exploration... YAWN!):
Just how fast is the speed of light? No, that's not a stupid question -
I know it's rated as roughly 3x10^8 metres per second in a vacuum - but
what I mean is, what if the vessel which is firing the laser beams
(assuming the energy bolts they fire in Star Trek et al are light, or
some sort of EM radiation) is travelling faster than light, viz. warp
speed? I haven't seen anything which suggests that phasers etc. don't
work except in "normal" space (except that Captain Picard waited until
the USS Stargazer had dropped out of warp before letting "everything" go
at that Ferengi ship when he did the Picard manoeuvre). Basically, if
you travel at light speed and shine a torch out the back of the ship,
are the photons left standing still or do they leave with a relative
speed of 2c? (It could be that they always travel with speed c. with
relation to the entire universe, ie. the ether, but that's probably as
outdated an idea as phlogesten).
Come on, come on! I've been waiting ages for someone to send me a
flame!
Dave "If you can't stand the heat, why the hell did you go to
Australia?" Chilard