Welcome to Trekking Through Compliance. We recently finished Season 8, where we reviewed all 79 episodes from Star Trek-the Original Series (TOS) for compliance, ethics and leadership lessons. This year we had additional analysis from Timothy and Fiona, two AI generated voices which added yet another perspective. I had so much fun this Season I decided to extend it by adding episodes on the science of and science issues from Star Trek TOS. I am joined in this exploration by my good friend Dr. Ben Locwin, a healthcare futurist and astrophysicist, who brings a scientific perspective to the discussion of Star Trek’s technology. In each episode we use one or more TOS episodes to introduce topics such as warp drive, wormholes, phasers, the practice of medicine. In the second episode in this series, we look at warp speed and the warp drive. It is ton of fun and I know you will enjoy it.
Locwin presents the speed of light as a fundamental limit in physics and says there is no current evidence that anything can exceed it. He explains that warp drive is an exciting idea for entertainment, but in real physics it faces major barriers because objects with mass cannot go faster than light and require ever more energy as they approach that limit. Locwin also uses thought experiments and the confirmed effects of time dilation to make relativity easier to understand, while acknowledging the ongoing challenge of reconciling quantum mechanics with relativity. Overall, he sees light speed as the universe’s current ultimate speed limit, though he leaves open the possibility that future discoveries could change our understanding.
Highlights
- Time Dilation Near Light Speed Travel
- Controlled matter-antimatter collisions release massive energy
- Einstein’s Hand Mirror and the Speed of Light
Resources:
Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weinstein
Ben Locwin on LinkedIn