Tag Archives: space travel

Education, Science and Technology

“Time Travel And Associated Paradox”

Humans have been fascinated towards time travel and have been developing technology to make it possible one day. The advancement in science has helped humans to make ideas turn reality. Space has always been a mystery to humans and we have always tried harder to solve them at the best of their possibilities. The idea of time travel and humans’ moment to past or future seems to be very fascinating, and humans believe that it is possible. But the fact that we cannot travel back to the era or to the future lies in the Einstein Theory Of Relatively. Which states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light or in simple words it suggests that anything which is travelling with the speed less than light will never be able to move faster in it’s coming time or else to do so it requires enormous and endless power sources which we know that is not possible. 

But different findings have led the belief of scientists to increase in this area and  make those possibilities to be true. It is believed that we can move to other planets or parallel universes through a wormhole. Which is another hypothesis as their significance is still not found. Scientists believe that by creating a wormhole we can reach other planets and even past . There have been particles like tachyons   (Hypothetical) which are supposed to move faster than light. It is believed that with the help of these we can send messages to our past and even travel one day. 

Here’s is the paradox which do makes rise a potential question to do so. This is known as the Grandfather Paradox. According to this paradox it states the idea that if any person travels to time before their grandfather or sends a message before grandfather had children and if someone through that message kills their grandfather, it would raise a question to their existence. This paradox has been in discussion since ages and is considered a proper problem which really raises the question and theories related to time travel. 

Scientists have been working in this field of developing technology and doing research so as to rediscover particles or any technology which could help us to cross the barrier of time and travel in different years. But this is purely hypothetical since scientists do know that it’s hardly possible to cross the barriers of light and travel faster than it. We need enormous sources of energy or endless sources of energy to run any machine at a speed faster than it. It is still a belief of fiction but people do believe that whatever is thinkable can be achieved so scientists are working in discovering various other phenomena happening in space so as to get the idea of how space works and utilize those knowledge in future projects. The wormhole theory is a relevant theory which does enable human travel to other planets outside our solar system without breaking the famous theory of relativity but still we hardly find any wormholes and if they exist, they are expected to be very small enough for any spacecraft to enter. 

Scientist’s have been finding out different ways so as to make their dream turn reality. It does seem to be impossible but still some people have faith in their work and theories. Science has been bringing out hidden secrets about space with every trip of humans in it. Maybe in future we may be able to do time travel with better technologies, and thus new possibilities and opportunities for mankind

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Education, Science and Technology

“Proxima B – Any Possibilities for Human Base?”

Humans have been in the search of life which may be residing in outer space except our solar system. They have been able to distinguish these planets from those which might be able to support life on them. Space technology and development in it has helped humans to go beyond the boundaries humans ever imagined. The next big thing which could really bring a greater change would be inter planetary movements between our planet and other planets where we can live. Scientists have been in the search of various of these planets and have been successful in finding out those, but the real problem which is an area of concern is their distance from earth, which makes it much of a difficult task to reach. But in between all these, scientists have found a planet named Proxima B  in the Proxima Centauri. This century is near to the well know Alpha centauri. The planet is about 4.24 light years away which makes it one of the closest planets for us to reach other than our solar system which has a tendency to support life. 

But the main question which do arises is that “Can we send humans to the planet, knowing the fact that it is at a distance of some light years, along with some important necessary factors like availability of Oxygen in abundance which will support life for so many years and also fuel to provide us the required thrust and power to keep it motion.”

Scientists believe that Proxima has capabilities to support life as it is at an adequate distance from its nearest star and thus lies in the Goldilock zone. They also believe it has a perfect chance to support life and also have possibilities if the atmosphere over there. So scientist do think that we can support life over there. But how to reach out there? Scientists are planning to send a lightweight satellite first with a phenomenon called Breakthrough Starshot, which would be lazer thrust given from the surface of earth and is expected to be travelling 1/20 the speed of light, thus reaching Proxima B within 15-20 years. 

But how can we send humans to such a planet, about which we know very little and only have possibilities about it. This could be sending various satellites and rovers to and planned unmanned flights which would land on the surface and get us closer to the surface. But the process would take years and may be centuries to follow up. Also the starshot technique does lack in its ability to stop, this wouldn’t allow it to get a closer look, rather would just pass away from the planet. And rest techniques would take thousands of years to reach this planet. 

So what could be the possible way out to solve this problem? Scientists believe that we can conduct space travel which would allow some of the chosen astronauts to remain in space for their lifetime and even die there. There further generations and generations would help us reach the planet. Also the oxygen and food will be made in space only. This could really transform the human genes and their way of living. But it’all theoreticals. 

We still lack major technologies and assurity of various space phenomena, which do lack our possibilities to conduct various space experiments. There can be many developments and alternatives for space travel, maybe in the future, but with current technology, it’s possible to reach other planets as light years, but would take our generations to follow up this mission. 

But the curiosity and different experiments may also lead us to find out new planets with the ability to support life, closure to our plants and thus make this dream of travelling in space to other planets than our solar system possible. But the recent advancement and projects which are working on includes the colonization of Mars. This would help us figure out their desired techniques, technologies and thus prepare us with better understanding of living standards to be followed on other planets than earth. Humans have the power to achieve zenith with their new ideas and will power, but nature being the divine power has many hidden secrets which are still hidden. Same is the case with the space. So we need to take care of the balance and steps for advancing but without any stakes to humanity . 

Education, Science and Technology

“Proxima B – Planet supporting life?”

Humans have been developing technologies and doing research in the field of space since the last 5-6 decades. We have been successful in launching various space missions which include launching satellites, landing on moon in late 60’s, satellite and rover to Mars and many others. With  the help of these missions and discoveries made by them, we are able to understand space and various other phenomena in it with a close view. The Hubble telescope, launched in 1990 has helped us to view space very closely and helped us to know about the existence of other planets at distance as well as centauries. Since these observations do facinate humans and the desire to explore it more, we are developing new technologies which would help us to reach out to these planets. The closest planet which we are in the run to land on is Mars. As per the plans of Spacex, they are planning a manual spaceflight to Mars by 2024. 

But there have been other observations also, and we have achieved results which do show the presence of planets like earth. We are still finding the question of existence of life on other planet and thus brings up the curiosity of humans to find them and reach them out. We have been able to find out many planets which have possibilities of life on them, but we do not have the desired technology to reach these due to the distance barrier as they are situated at various light years. But still there does exist a chance to reach one of them named “Proxima-B”.

  1.  This planet is supposed to be the same size as Earth and lie at a distance of 4.24 light years . It was found in the nearest Alpha centauri. 
  2. Proxima B revolves around a star named Proxima Centauri and is supposed to be at a distance suitable for supporting life on it. It lies at a distance of 75 lakhs kilometre and has an expected time to complete its orbit around it’s stars is 11.2 Earth days. But Due to the smaller size of its star, Proxima B lies in the habitable zone as per the experts.
  3.  It is supposed to have water reserves if it has an atmosphere around it. As per the computer model and analysis, it does give the possibility of atmosphere and water. 
  4. Some scientists also believe that as this lies close to its star, it could be tidally locked, like the moon. This means that one side if this planet remain s towards the star and the other remains in dark . This suggests the possibility of keeping the area hot which faces the star, while others remain cold. This suggests the life to be supported at the border area. But it’s just a belief and scientists do have a conflicting thought on this. 

But the main question which comes to mind is “Can we reach there with the same technology we use for other planets and how long will it take”. It’s believed that with the current technology it would take thousands of years to reach Proxima -B thus making it a difficult task with the current technology. But scientists are working on unmanned vehicles which can be light weight and thus able to reach it. Breakthrough starshot technique is being tested for the same and it’s believed we can reach Proxima -B through this. It is believed it would just take 15-20 year to reach this planet as they would be travelling at very high speed. These would be working on lightsail instead of rockets to work and go beyond the distance. Once they are made, they would be left in the earth orbit and laser light would be travelling to them which would power them and would thus move towards the destination. At an expected speed of 1/20th speed of light. 

It seems that some of these technologies and work experiment could help us reach out to the nearest of planets which could support life but there are some of problems with these, which are:

  1. These would be really expensive experiments. 
  2. We still do not know how to stop these vehicles once they reach out there. Which surely means we would have less time analyze the planet and soon it will pass it 
  3. Surety of life isn’t confirmed. 

“So these experiments bring out the hope of life and our possibilities to reach them out. Scientists and their teams are working on research work and ideas which could make this dream a reality and could help us to reach out other life forms of dynasties if possible and thus opening new life possibilities , adventures, risk but with learning being the better probability”. 

Education, Science and Technology

“Tachyons And The Question Of Their Existence”

Space travel and other space related phenomena have always fascinated mankind towards them and thus has initiated space research and various programs to probably see these with a closure reference. Many theories and researches came along those journeys which made humans believe in the possibility of space travel or even time travel. Success if our mission to the moon and landing on it gave this dream a reality  and the mission to Mars gave further hope to travel to these planets. But there were also various other theories which came up to the existence of a multiverse and parallel universe which fascinated people . But to Reach these places we had to cross the barrier which Einstein gave in his Special Theory of Relativity . States that we cannot travel at speed light as it requires enormous amounts of energy since these places were some light years ahead of us. Which brought up the possibility of a Wormhole and various other theories related to it. It gave us the description of the shortest path which we can travel without breaking the rules of general relativity. 

But all this research brought us to the knowledge of particles which are believed to have speed equal to or more than that of light. These particles were named “Tachyons”. These are hypothetical particles which are believed to exist in our universe travelling with the speed faster than that of light. Since we know through general relativity that the speed of light is the highest speed which anything can have and travel with . The theory relates to the fact that “if any object is travelling initially slower than the speed of light, then it could not travel with the speed of light in any way possible”. It is observed in some smaller particles like photons which do travel with the speed of light and thus also always travel with the same speed. There must exist a possibility of particles which do travel with the speed greater than light and thus always travels at greater speed. 

Thus Tachyons can be considered as particles which have properties and characteristics different from the ones we acknowledge in our surrounding and our research work. This is because of their higher speed. So the main properties which may be present in these particles could be that “while solving the mathematical equation, the rest mass or the proper length or the proper lifestyle would be considered imaginary”. Confused. Let’s see an example. 

1.In special relativity theory, we get relative mass by the formula:

m= m°/√1-(v^2/c^2) 

Where m is the object in mass and m° is the rest mass of the object. Since in our case Tachyons travel with more speed than light thus v>c , we will get a negative number in the square root which gives us imaginary number i. So if we keep the rest mass as an imaginary number, both the imaginary terms get canceled out and we can surely find out the solution of the equation. Similar goes with proper length and life time.

2. Also it is believed that as the speed of tachyon I will increase, energy would significantly decrease as per the “Cherenkov radiation”. Cherenkov radiation is a process which tells us that when any particle is moving with the speed greater than light in any medium, it gives out blue glow which is due to interaction and thus it may lose energy. 

3. It is also believed that we can send messages to the past through Tachyons. 

“But as we see through many  researches, it shows that their existence is possible and thus could be present in our surrounding space. There are many physicists who believe that their existence may not be possible, as they raise different paradoxes . But as such no physical existence of such particles have been seen in any of the experiments conducted till date. So it makes them completely Hypothetical but with the belief to be detected soon, if they do exist”. 

Education, Science and Technology

“Can Wormhole – Be Someday a Bypass to New Possibilities”?

Science and technologies have helped humans to survive and life their lifestyle with utmost comfort and facilities. These have not only opened opportunities to new ideas but also have made things possible which at times were even difficult to imagine. Every individual has their own dreams and wishes which they want to be true one day. But the fantasy and desire which each individual has in their life especially in their childhood to travel to space and see how life’s out there, irrespective of the thought and difficulties attached to it. But man with the development of ideas and better technology have been able to bring this dream to something practical and was able to send things to space in the late 50’s. But what initially got the attraction was the man’s first landing on the natural satellite – Moon in the late 60’s , which transformed the technology and the way every individual saw space to different phases. With this we humans were able to accomplish various other achievements like that of satellites, space exploration and the most important, International Space Station. With all these space missions and human interference as common visit to space opened the door to the thought of space travel and people were and are really keen to visit space ones in their lifetime and even to other planets be in this galaxy or other. “But is it really possible” ? 

Man has been figuring out different ways and ideas to reach to different planets, not only in this galaxy but also to the other. All help from various satellites to visualise different space objects and phenomena. There are many possibilities of life on most of the planet but it’s difficult to reach these planets as these are various light years apart. Which surely means that to reach these planets we must manufacture a spacecraft traveling at a speed of light or more, which contradicts the statement of Einstein and limits our reach. According to Einstein theory or the famous Theory of Relativity, any object which has a certain mass cannot travel with the speed of light, as it would require an enormous amount of energy or the ideal system to produce energy which won’t get exhausted soon. So it surely makes it ideally impossible to reach out these planet at these distance. 

But still there are possibilities to reach out these planets as per different theories even without breaking the Theory of Relativity. The existence of Wormholes, still a questionable part and still exists only in theories. As per the general relativity theory by Einstein, it tells about how gravity really works and why it works. According to his theory, gravitation works by the bending of space due to the weight of the planets and stars. It thus forms a curved path, which helps them to revolve around each other. So more the weight of the planet or object, the more it will bend the space. So the main belief which Einstein had in this theory was that, it is possible to create a shortcut between any two objects as they “Create bend in space  thus connecting those through an invisible path connecting them both through space and time. So it brought out the possibility to travel in space, by bending it”. 

So is it really possible to travel through these Wormholes, there are things which do contradict travelling through it. Since no significant occurrence of these have been observed in our nearest surroundings. Also it is believed that these are really small which might not fit the space ship or spacecraft into it. So we need to expand it so as to travel through them. Exotic matter can be a way out in such condition. Exotic matter is something which also has no existence but scientists are into making it. Exotic matter is totally different from the normal matter. It is believed that exotic matter has negative energy density and pressure. So This could be used to push back the walls of the wormhole and create enough space for the spacecraft to enter it.But it’s believed  that as soon as we enter a wormhole, the wormhole can destroy and thus we would die in it . Also there are possibilities which barely makes it difficult for us to return back to our time period, as we would travel to different times. Also the existence of another wormhole would still be a matter of thought and not sure would exist or not. 

 

“It’s really fascinating to hear about all this and know about the research going in this field, it might seem to be dangerous but still we are into making it possible through our technological aspects as well as through various research in space. It’s still a question to doubt time travel or space travelling to other planets is possible or not and will be able to do so. But it’s also believed that anything which is mathematically driven, is possible. So let’s wait for better beat to enter a new era of possibilities”.