With the help of technology, mankind finally realized the dream of flying out of the earth and saw the vast universe. Only when we really get out of the earth can we know how small the earth is. Compared to the universe, the earth is not even a small dust.
After human beings walked out of the earth, they also knew our future goal, which is the stars and the sea. The mystery of the universe attracts us to continue to explore. To explore the universe, we need to be able to reach different galaxies at ultra-fast speeds, but this is an extremely difficult thing for humans.
We all know that the earth is the homeland of mankind. In ancient times, the scope of activities for people was very limited. For most of the ancients, they did not know how much the earth was, and it was difficult for people all over the world to contact and communicate. Especially in the Western world where the East and the ocean face the rocks, people basically don’t know each other’s existence.
The main problem that hinders people’s range of activities and communication is speed, because we don’t have advanced and fast transportation. People basically rely on walking to travel, and the more advanced means of transportation are nothing more than horse-drawn carriages. Such speed and means of transportation are very limited, and they cannot cross mountains, let alone traverse the ocean.
It was not until mankind entered the industrial age that with the help of science and technology, we had faster vehicles, not only running on land, swimming in water, but also airplanes that could fly into the sky. With these advanced and fast means of transportation, our scope of activities has become larger and larger, and the earth has become smaller and smaller.
It can be said that with the help of technology, there is basically no place on the earth’s surface that humans can’t reach. The mountains can’t hinder our footsteps, and the ocean can’t stop the exchanges between the East and the West. Humans are proud at this time because we have conquered the earth, but with the continuous advancement of human science and technology, we have stepped out of the earth and have seen the vast universe.
In front of the universe, the earth is just a tiny world, and the vast universe is the main direction of human exploration in the future. But to explore the universe, we still need more advanced aircraft, and the speed of this aircraft must reach an incredible level.
On the earth, supersonic flight is already an extreme speed, but such a speed is simply not possible in the universe. The distance of the universe is based on light-years as the basic unit. A small solar system also reaches 2 light-years in diameter including the Oort cloud. A light-year refers to the distance that light travels in a vacuum for one year. When converted into kilometers, it is about 9,460730472580 kilometers.
What a huge number. If we drive forward at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, it will take tens of millions of years to complete this distance. Even if it is the fastest “Parker” solar probe currently human, its speed is as high as 195 kilometers per second, and it will take at least 1538 years to run a light-year at this speed.
The solar system is just one of the hundreds of billions of galaxies with the Milky Way coefficient, and the entire Milky Way has a diameter of 100,000 light-years. Even if it travels at the speed of light, it takes at least 100,000 years to traverse, and there is a local group of galaxies with a diameter of 10 million light-years above the Milky Way. Even the neighbor of the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, is 2.54 million light-years away.
Above the local group of galaxies is the Virgo supercluster with a diameter of 110 million light-years, and above the local group of galaxies is the “Rania Kea supercluster” with a diameter of 520 million light-years. At present, the observable universe of mankind has reached 93 billion light-years. These ever-increasing data make us feel shocked. How can mankind realize the exploration of the entire universe?
Relying on the speed of light to fly is obviously far from enough, but Einstein’s special theory of relativity tells us that the speed of a mass object can only be infinitely close to the speed of light. If the speed of light cannot break through, does that mean that humans will be trapped in the Milky Way forever? The answer is yes. At speeds like the speed of light, it is impossible for us to travel across the Milky Way, let alone explore more distant outer space.
So is the speed of light really unable to break through? Of course not. In fact, the universe does not lack the phenomenon of super-light speed. For example, the expansion speed of the universe far exceeds the speed of light, and there are some high-energy particles in the universe that can suddenly reach another location from one location quickly, and the speed is also higher. The speed of light. So how do they do it?
The answer to this question Einstein’s generalized relativity has already told us. The theory of relativity tells us that space-time can be distorted, and that distorted space-time can accelerate an animal body. The more distorted, the greater the acceleration, and there is no upper limit to this acceleration.
According to the theory of relativity, scientists have conceived the speed mode of the warp engine, which refers to compressing the space in front of the spacecraft, and then expanding the space behind the spacecraft, so that the spacecraft can use the distortion of space to make the spacecraft move quickly. In this process, the spacecraft is stationary relative to the surrounding space, which does not violate the laws of physics.
The warp-speed engine allows the spacecraft to easily break the speed of light and achieve super-light speed flight. Scientists divide the speed engine into several levels, the higher the level, the faster the speed. According to simulation calculations, the first-class warp engine can reach the speed of light, the second-class warp engine can reach 10 times the speed of light, and the 9.9 class warp engine can reach 3053 times the speed of light.
3053 times the speed of light may appear to many people to be an unimaginable speed. At this speed, it only takes 2.87 hours for us to fly out of the solar system and 32.8 years to fly out of the Milky Way. Even crossing the interstellar space to reach the Andromeda galaxy is not an unattainable dream in the past.
However, this speed is still far from enough in the eyes of scientists. The universe is too big. If the life span of human beings is infinite, we can barely accept this speed. But the life span of human beings is very limited, and people who live longer are only more than 100 years old. This time is far from enough to face interstellar navigation. If we want to go to the Andromeda Galaxy, it will take 832 years and at least 8 generations of talents will be able to achieve it.
And if it traverses the entire local galaxy group, it will take at least 10 million light-years, not to mention the Virgo supercluster and the Rania Kea supercluster above. With the 9.9x speed engine, we can only explore the entire galaxy at best. It is impossible to explore interstellar space that is far enough away.
If 3053 times the speed of light cannot be achieved, what kind of speed can achieve the grand goal of mankind? Einstein proposed the probability of a wormhole based on the theory of relativity. The so-called wormhole is a channel connecting two different locations. The existence of space-time distortion theoretically supports the existence of wormholes, and some scientists believe that there may be many natural wormholes in the universe.
If a wormhole exists, then it is very easy for us to get from one galaxy to another galaxy, and it can be achieved by passing through the wormhole. For example, from the Milky Way to the Andromeda Galaxy, it would take 832 years if it travels with a 9.9x speed engine, but if it passes through a wormhole, it may take a few hours, or it may be even shorter.
Therefore, while scientists are actively exploring and researching warp engines, they are also constantly exploring the possibility of wormholes. I believe that as long as we keep walking step by step, the distance of the universe will be constantly broken by us. Sooner or later, the universe will become the back garden of mankind. At that time, mankind will be the overlord of the universe.