Astronomy / Space Magnetic portals under NASA research

[Susimetsa]

Very interesting article about the magnetic portals between the Earth and Sun. Precursor for FTL travel?

http://www.telescope.com/Articles/C...per-Atmosphere/pc/9/c/192/sc/199/p/103046.uts

 

[Kerrash]

OMFG. I hope there is some truth behind this.

 

[Majere]

Wow, great find.

 

[Kerrash]

Interesting read.
You could extrapolate from this that the magnetic fields of planets and stars could be used as anchor points for fast travel or hyperspace. Also the proximity of the mass could destabilize the portal, hence mass locking.

I love it when fact can be twisted to explain Sci fi

 

[DWorth]

If they find a way to create or stabilise these portals, will there be cake?

 

[AndrewF]

The cake is a lie!

 

[AtomicHorror]

The discovery that particles of any kind can skip intervening space in this way (or any way at all) would be huge... I have to be suspicious of this. Was this behaviour in fact what was confirmed or are we talking about a new model to explain some other observations that have this behaviour as a consequence?

This story seems to originate from a NASA article here (and it's from nearly a year ago):
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/mag-portals.html

It describes connections between the magnetic fields (dubbed X-points) and how particles move along those connections in an "uninterrupted path", but it makes no mention of the particles "circumventing 93 million miles of space".

I can't find any new primary source on this, and the Telescope article doesn't give any citations... unfortunately I think somebody somewhere has misinterpreted a press release.

 

[Geraldine]

Interesting read.
You could extrapolate from this that the magnetic fields of planets and stars could be used as anchor points for fast travel or hyperspace. Also the proximity of the mass could destabilize the portal, hence mass locking.

I love it when fact can be twisted to explain Sci fi

That is how the human faction ships in the 4x game Sword Of The Stars move between star systems.

 

[Dr Wookie]

The discovery that particles of any kind can skip intervening space in this way (or any way at all) would be huge... I have to be suspicious of this. Was this behaviour in fact what was confirmed or are we talking about a new model to explain some other observations that have this behaviour as a consequence?

This story seems to originate from a NASA article here (and it's from nearly a year ago):
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/mag-portals.html

It describes connections between the magnetic fields (dubbed X-points) and how particles move along those connections in an "uninterrupted path", but it makes no mention of the particles "circumventing 93 million miles of space".

I can't find any new primary source on this, and the Telescope article doesn't give any citations... unfortunately I think somebody somewhere has misinterpreted a press release.

Yeah, I think that's what happened. Charged particles flow along magnetic field lines, so any direct connection between the fields of the Earth and the Sun would lead to direct flight from charged particles. However, they still have to go through space normally!

All the press I can find is from a year ago, must be a slow news day !

 

[Kerrash]

That is how the human faction ships in the 4x game Sword Of The Stars move between star systems.

Lol. All these Scifi universes are either converging or just plagiarising each other.

...
However, they still have to go through space normally!

All the press I can find is from a year ago, must be a slow news day !

Damn it, I hate it when that happens.
I really should be more skeptical before getting so excited.
Still at least they are researching warp drive...

 

[Darren Grey]

I really should be more skeptical before getting so excited.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is

 

[Magma]

I think it might be like electricity, as mentioned on QI once. The actual electrons are moving very slowly (an almost literal snail's pace) but the flow of energy is almost instantaneous (as the electrons moving into one end of a wire necessarily force different electrons out the other end a bit like marbles in a tube).

 

[Kerrash]

But wouldn't the rate at which information can be passed by the electrons bumping into each other have to obey 'c'? Unless it is a quantum effect that can behave super luminally? :S

Where's Dr Wookie when you need him

 

[AtomicHorror]

But wouldn't the rate at which information can be passed by the electrons bumping into each other have to obey 'c'?

Yep.

Unless it is a quantum effect that can behave super luminally? :S

Like entanglement? It still can't transmit information faster than light.

Even being generous to the article and glossing over their re-framing of the "portals", they still invoke negative energy as a means to manipulate the effect (though it's not clear whether the quote was intended to refer to these "portals" or to wormholes). Right now AFAIK it's not clear whether negative energy/mass exist, so it all reads like a massive over-reach.

 

[OneViGOR]

My thoughts are that if particles are getting through these portals, wouldn't we also be seeing photons pass through as well? In other words, why can't light pass through these portals as well as matter, and why can't we see it?