Faster-than-light travel
Faster-than-light travel (often abbreviated to FTL) refers to the purported ability or potential to break the universal speed limit of light.
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The maximum speed of light is exactly 299,792,458 meters per second (this is possible because the meter is actually defined by the speed of light), but is usually known as 3×108 meters per second. Although this is the speed of unstructured light in a vacuum and the speed of light is affected by the material through which it passes, the speed of light under any given circumstance is the maximum possible speed at that circumstance.
Some claim that this fundamental constant of the universe can be broken. But the amount of energy it takes to accelerate an object with rest mass rises sharply as c is approached until a discontinuity is reached. It would require infinite energy to cross the final gap.
Possibility of travel faster than the speed of light
Einstein's theory of general relativity does not rule out the existence of shortcuts in spacetime called wormholes
The Alcubierre drive
See also
- Light speed
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