Here's a light propelled vehicle test launch in an open-shutter snapshot. The light is focused into a laser which causes air to explode - each ring of light you see is an explosion which further launched the vehicle upward.



You can learn about all kinds of experimental and theoretical technologies being developed at:

http://www.howstuffworks.com

Recommended link to get at cool info fast:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/category.htm?cat=Compww

Cool...

Air? Explode? lol

The laser beam is turned off and on rapidly, so it sends light in pulses, each ring you see is where one of thise pulses hit the vehicle.

Or at least thats how I understand it...

Isn't that kinda old? I think I saw that on tv last year or something.

Jitendra, you just did the forbidden "SilentRage is wrong" type of remark. I did not lie to you. Quote:

"Once the lightcraft is spinning at an optimal speed, the laser is turned on, blasting the lightcraft into the air. The 10-kilowatt laser pulses at a rate of 25-28 times per second. By pulsing, the laser continues to push the craft upward. The light beam is focused by the parabolic mirror on the bottom of the lightcraft, which heats the air to between 18,000 and 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (9,982 and 29,982 degrees Celsius) -- that's several times hotter than the surface of the sun. When you heat air to these high temperatures, it is converted to a plasma state -- this plasma then explodes to propel the craft upward."

But anyway people, that is far from the coolest thing that site discusses. It also describes how matter/antimatter engines will work (just like in the old Star Trek) and how teleportation will work (again, just like in Star Trek) and how DNA computers will work. It's not just fantasy stuff either, they've actually done some of everything above.

All kinds of neat stuff.

I feel kinda sorry for the first guy they "teleport" hehe...

a little more about laser travel and such... they had an experiment in a facility i forget which, berckly maybe... anyway they tested the speed of light thought a substance called aerogel, made kinda like glass with supperheated sandgrains, well anywa its light as a feather and tey got it so that when light passes thought it it goes faster than light.... kinda weird screws up einstien special realitivity theory, oh well last time i tryed to get back to the site from my bibliography(was an english report) it wasnt there

Quiet SilentRage... your WRONG!!! :-D (

j/k)

This makes no sense, light passes through it and propels it faster than light? No. Until I see hard proof, nothing can go faster than the speed of light--not a damn thing. Numerous tests have shown this to be true. How it affects time is particularly interesting, if you wish I'll embelish, but otherwise just look it up, veyr neat.

And aerogel? All I can find is that it's being used to catch particles of a comet's tail.

Yes. Aerogel was developed by NASA. It's 99.6% (I think) air and the rest is silicone or something. It's in some weird state that's not quite solid, and not quite gas. It can withstand extreme temperatures and has other weird properties. As for going faster than light, everything I've heard about breaking the speed of light barrier ahs been disproven. Except one. Here .

I don't see how that news article disproves that the speed of light can't be broken. The fastest they've made any particle move is subatomic particles accelerated in megnetic field driven tubes. These particles spin around faster and faster until it is just a fraction away from the speed of light - but goes no faster.

Also, as for time... I don't believe that you can go back in time when you break the speed of light. The closest thing to looking into the past you can get, is by looking up into the sky at the stars. You are looking at those star's past. If you can go faster than the speed of light, you can outrun it and stop and look behind to watch it catch up - a glimpse into the past. For instance, if some alien out there had a fricken powerful telescope and was able to see straight through the clouds on earth - he'd be watching events that happened years and years and years - goodness how many years into our past.

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In case any of you guys found it and read it. HowStuffWorks.com has a lot of information about teleportation that news articles does not go into - it's worth a read.

Also, if you find this kind of thing interesting, quantum computers is also well discussed on that site. Here's the core of it - classical computers run instructions linearly - as in, 1 by 1 after another as fast as it can go. The data is represented as 1's and 0's. In quantum computers, these instructions are executed at the same time. This is possible by the new mode that data travels and that the data is now represented in 1's and 0's and a mixed state that is both 0 and 1. With such a unique data representation, a chunk of information may hold more than 1 piece of data. While before you transmit first 1 number than another number to the processor to be added, all you have to do is transmit the 1 piece of information containing both numbers and have them added. This increases speed and efficiency.

DNA computers kicks all ass though.

Why do you say that? What's so good about DNA computers? Quantum computers are obviously faster and have more potential right? And evolutionary programs can be made on quantum computers just like classical ones...
I haven't really looked into DNA computers so I don't know that much about them. Why do you say they kick ass?

Dude think about it. Just how much information is stored in one tiny cell of our body? The entire genetic makeup that makes us - us. Our entire body can be rebuilt with the information in any one of our cells.

And that demonstrates just how much we can store with DNA.

Notice the chemical reactions that take place in our brain and transmit various information. Just imagine how much input our brain recieves at every given moment about our surroundings and internal working processes. It's damn fast. And they say our brain is only using a small fraction of it's potential. DNA computers can harness some of that. Read the article before debating what I say - like jtendra should've.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/dna-computer.htm

By DNA computers, are you talking about nanotech, the transistors that are made from single atoms?

nano-computing doesn't have to be DNA computing, but DNA computing can be nano-computing. Read the damn article. I knew people wouldn't read shit when I posted that site.

btw, nano-computing is yet another topic the site discusses.