Hendrik Casimir’s idea for an experiment was simple: bring two metallic objects extremely close together and wait. Spontaneously, as if by magic, the objects will be drawn together. No external forces, no pushes or pulls, no action of gravity or tension or magnetism. The objects simply get closer. The reason? An unlimited source of vibration sitting in the very vacuum of spacetime.
This landmark experiment, first devised by Casimir just after World War II—and only realized 25 years ago—paved the way for scientists to witness the manifestations of quantum theory in a real, practical way. Quantum fields and their vibrations power our modern-day understanding of physics, from subatomic interactions to the evolution of the entire universe. And what we learned, thanks to Casimir’s work, is that infinite energy permeates the vacuum of space. There are many ideas in the science fiction universe that propose using vacuum energy to power a starship or other advanced kind of propulsion, like a warp drive. While these ideas are still dreams, the fact remains that a simple experiment, devised in 1948, set fire to our imaginations and our understanding of the universe.
The big problem with traveling at near light velocity is time dilation, not to mention how do you shield a material spacecraft with biological beings inside from interacting with matter in the interstellar medium at that enormous speed? The faster one travels, the further they travel into the future of the place they left. Near light speed travel, if even practicle, is a one way trip for those involved. I would love to travel very far from Earth, but I still want come back to the ones I love.
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