Scientific Questions

[AeoN2]

Originally posted by [K126]Mephisto:
IIRC photons have a very small mass and a very high momentum. With a larger sail (not THAT big, several hundred meters) you can gain very high speed over time because of the constant pressure applied by the light. However, it would be very hard to navigate with such a sail as you can only sail with the photons (i.e. away from the nearby sun) and have no force (like friction) to "cruise" lake a real ship can in water.

If I remember my physics correctly light both has mass, and acts as it has no mass at the same time. For instance no mass can travel at the speed of light (according to E=MC2), but it still has mass in other calculations... i am tired and know i am rambling now though

I know I've learnt about Mesons, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about them... My favourite subatomics have always been Gravitons (though I still don't think they have proven they exist, am I wrong?)

The latest I think heard about solar sails is that there is a new deep space probe that NASA are developing that will use a solar sail, I think they have successfully tested the technology... but it could be sleep-deprivation combined with too many Star Trek episodes

DISCLAIMER: Star Trek used as an example because it was mentioned earlier, truth be told I prefer B5

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AeoN2
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