My faster than light communication device.

Interesting ... I had a similar idea and created a thread about it just today. I had no idea someone else came up with the same basic thought that I had.

Great minds think alike I guess

a beauty of longitudinal waves.
a reply to: VoidHawk

Why worry about the resources required to make the tube? String and a couple of cans would be cheaper.....

a reply to: VoidHawk

If we could get the end of the tube to your friends 1 light year away you get get yourself there to talk face to face !

originally posted by: wmd_2008
a reply to: VoidHawk

If we could get the end of the tube to your friends 1 light year away you get get yourself there to talk face to face !

Yeah, but if the far end of the rod moved at the same moment that the near end was pushed, then (ostensibly) rudimentary messages (Morse code and such) could be sent instantaneously by movements of the rod.

However, the problem is that the far end of the tube would NOT move instantaneously after the near end is pushed. The push propagates through the rod at subliminal speeds.

Mybe instead of the rod you can do that with an energy (massless) rod. For example a Laser.
But that would be a funny suggestion.

I would instead focus on proper full coverage testing and evaluation for Electronics/HW and SW of the upcoming Exomars mission. If that mission fails, in the current state of European finance, I hardly believe ESA can keep up with its ambitious space exploration program.

It's a good idea , but this would be pointless at greater distances and would cost exponentially at massive distances
so it would be a waste of time by the time it took to build and manufacture and set up the light year long tube
the people that were trying to send a message would have died , and would require their grandsons/grandaughters to test the project worked

why cant they already communicate with quantum entanglement if it works at any distance
the change in the state of one molecule recorded at one end is the same on the other

just need to figure out a pattern like morse code and boom faster than light communication

have they even tried this at greater distances , nope
but it should theoretically be possible ?

That was a great thought experiment op.
I wonder if cooling the rod to zero k would stop compression?

a reply to: VoidHawk

If we had a really, really long string and two dixie cups...............

originally posted by: SprocketUK
That was a great thought experiment op.
I wonder if cooling the rod to zero k would stop compression?

Each atom needs to "tell" the next atom in line that it is being pushed. That does not happen instantaneously.

a reply to: Box of Rain

Ah, I was thinking in terms of voids between atoms

a reply to: VoidHawk

It might be easier to master quantum entanglement and its states. Then maybe we could communicate accross the universe at ftl with it?

What is the hypothetical stick was made of electron-degenerate matter rather than atoms? Or even neutron matter. I think that would do away with the delay between the particles.

originally posted by: wildespace
What is the hypothetical stick was made of electron-degenerate matter rather than atoms? Or even neutron matter. I think that would do away with the delay between the particles.

The size of elementary particles is pretty much zero, according to experimental evidence so far.

originally posted by: SprocketUK
That was a great thought experiment op.
I wonder if cooling the rod to zero k would stop compression?

Glad you realised it was just a thought experiment, many seem to think it was a serious suggestion

I only thought about it because a poster in another thread said ftl communication is impossible. If compression of the rod didn't happen then it ought to work.

originally posted by: network dude
a reply to: VoidHawk

If we had a really, really long string and two dixie cups...............

That would be limited to the speed of the sound wave traveling along the string....but what if we pull on the string

a reply to: Imagewerx

Excuse my ignorance, but why would it compress at all? Isn't compression a result of friction/resistance? If it is in a vacuum, would there still be enough resistance for it to compress? Or would it be allowed to move freely?

originally posted by: dalepmay
a reply to: Imagewerx

Excuse my ignorance, but why would it compress at all? Isn't compression a result of friction/resistance? If it is in a vacuum, would there still be enough resistance for it to compress? Or would it be allowed to move freely?

First of all, why wouldn't something in a vacuum be able to be compressed? A compressible piece of putty or a sponge in a vacuum would still be compressible...

However, that's beside the point. Let's forget about compression, because it's not about compression at all, really. It's about the time it takes for one atom or molecule to communicate with the "next" one in line along the length of the rod.

Let's say that the rod was ultra-ultra-stiff, and had a compression of "zero" (i.e., it is made of a super material that is totally non-compressible),and lets say I push on one end of the rod. Even though the material doesn't compress, the atoms on the end on which I pushed need to "tell" the next atom in line that it was pushed (somehow communicate the force of that push). Then, that next atom needs to "tell" the next, and so on and so on.

That communication of the force of the original push does not happen instantaneously so there is a lag time between the atoms in the rod at my end being pushed and the atoms at the other end of the rod getting the message that the rod was pushed.

I'm not sure if that time is the speed of light or not, but it isn't faster than the speed of light.