Is the human body compatible with the speed of light ?

[Olli]

Hello, a question and its answer, I want to share is the one in the title.

Certainly, lots of people know the answer. But, sometimes, such a question helps to imagine any more complex concepts.

Can we travel at the speed of light without being crushed, burned, torn, frozen, or struck down?

frozen : there is several protections for that.
burnt : we must be far of a maximum of particles (solar winds, atmosphere, etc...)
torn : this depends of the tool we use to travel.
crushed : I mark a pause here.

The normal environment for a person is called one G.

One G matches to near
10 meters per second per second

This means under our feet, a force pushes our body to gain 10 meters per second, every second.

If we fall (anywhere on the Earth), we gain 36km/h every second. If we wanted to talk about the miles, if we would fall, we gained 22 mph, every second.

Could G change ?

If we want to send Granny Oma at the speed of light, G cannot change.
- G too great : the brain has no blood anymore.
- G too small : long term development problem (skeleton, brain pressure, etc...)

Considering G, in howlong duration could reach the speed of light ?

c = speed of light
c = 300 000 000 m/s
G = 10 m/s/s

D = c/G = 30 000 000 seconds
D = near 1 year

This means our body can reach the speed of light after one year of acceleration.

So, if we start the travel on January, the 1st, on December, the 31st, shall we reach alive the speed of light ?
No, it is very likely that on January 31, the trip will be stopped. And we send such a message :

<< Houston, we have a problem.
We see the Earth completely distorted by a dark hole. Although we kept the same diet, we each lost 100*[1- Cos(pi/24)] percent of our initial mass. And our communications are slower: they have lost that same percentage. The Geiger counter indicates an increased radioactivity of this same percentage in all the vessels, and our bodies with. Compared to the initial natural radioactivity, the increase in this radioactivity also corresponds to this percentage. What to do ? >>

(Houston) << No dark hole on the Earth ! Go back ! >>

[BarryG]

Your sig says "End of joke", so I don't know if you're asking a serious question or joking?

[jacdelad]

Why settle G at 10m/s²? We can surely withstand greater accelerations -> less time to accelerate until hypothetical lightspeed.

[Olli]

Ow you are already here ! It's however time to sleep ! No ?
I added a text on the top ! (the answer indeed)

@BarryG

I will remove my short signature !

@jacdelad

10 m/s (one G) is the natural acceleration. And yes, in the armies, more than one G is doable, but it is extreme. 2G = your body has twice your normal weight !

[netmaestro]

Not sure I can slow down that much but if I can I'll let you know.

[jacdelad]

@Olli: Nightshift, at least for me. Been doing nightshifts for 2.5 months now.

[Olli]

Not sure I can slow down that much but if I can I'll let you know.

Hello netmaestro !

In this scenario, the 1G value offers an easy equation :

Code: Select all

percentageChange = 100 * (1 - Cos(#Pi / 24 * monthNumero) )

(month numero is 1-based so it is between 1 and 12)

So, in example, on January 31st, it is 0.85%
February 28/29th : 3.40% (speed ~= 60megaMPH)
March 31st : 7.60%
April 30th : 13.38%
May 31st : 20.64%
Juny 30th : 29.26%
July 31st : 39.08%
August 31st : 49.95%
September 30th : 61.67%
October 31st : 74.05%
November 30th : 86.87%
December 31st : 99.92%

And, my mistake in this scenario is increase/decrease : the real ratio is not a sum/difference but a product/division.

This means, on December, the 31st, the communication are infinitely slow between Houston and the spaceship, the radioactivity is total in the vehicle, the masses become null, and the dark hole which were behind, has covered all the starship, excepted a point on the front of it.

(So, it is really slower than I described on January the 31st ! )

[juergenkulow]

speed of light in vacuum c0 = 299 792 458 m/s
How much energy is needed to accelerate 80 kg to c?
Edit:Link

[Olli]

speed of light in vacuum c0 = 299 792 458 m/s
How much energy is needed to accelerate 80 kg to c?
Edit:Link

Hello juergenkulow, if we invent a tool to protect each atom of our body, against the radioactivity, this tool need an infinite energy to regenerate the atoms destroyed by the speed near c. Without such a tool, our body becomes an anti-bomb of 100 teratons of TNT.

I note through your wiki link, there is curve draw from Lorenz which tells us the energy needed to reach c is infinite, what I understand perfectly. As the absolute cold, which is a limit, c speed is also a limit. A threshold to which more we approach, more we need lots of energy.

I must check if the radioactivity is real or not. I got this info, by imagining all the physical interactions are cancelled by the speed.

[Olli]

I do not find informations about the radioactive effects of the speed...

It seemed to me, however, that our current average speed contributed to a part of the natural radioactivity. And so it seemed to me that increasing the speed of an object towards the speed of light increased the radioactivity of this object until a total disintegration in the vicinity of c.

Maybe I should concentrate a little more, if I talked nonsense to you...

[ChrisR]

a total disintegration in the vicinity of c.

That's good, I almost didn't touch the C language, I prefer PB

[Olli]

I should code anything to illustrate what about a particle, when its speed is strongly increased.

[jacdelad]

█ Normal particle
▇ Particle moving up at c/8
▆ Particle moving up at c/4
▅ Particle moving up at 5/8*c
▄ Particle moving up at c/2
▃ Particle moving up at 3/8*c
▂ Particle moving up at c/4
▁ Paricle moving up at c/8
░ Particle moving in any direction at c