For one, the spin of the earth. The earth spins at about 1000 miles an hour at the equator. Let's say I jumped from either pole to the equator.
I'd go from barely moving at all to going 1000 miles an hour! You know what would happen? I not only would be killed, I'd be nothing but a very long red streak.
Now if I was to jump from the equator to either pole, I'd appear at the pole and instantly be going 1000 miles an hour. I'd just shoot off into the air, and of course the inertia would squash my innards flat.
I could jump from either pole into space, and have no problem as long as my spacesuit went with me. But again, from the equator into space, and I'd materialize doing 1000 mph. The inertia would pancake me.
As best as I remember, the moon is doing about 60 miles a second, so I could jump from the earth to the trailing edge, and have no problem, except for the fact the moon would be zooming away from me. But if I appeared on the leading edge, I'd hit at 60 miles a second.
Now that I think about it, I was conned by “Star Trek.” That damn transporter would not work at all, unless the Enterprise was in a geosynchronous orbit. Otherwise, splat.
For that matter, whoever is operating the transporter would have to get it right down to the millimeter. Can you imagine appearing with your feet stuck inside the ground?
As for time travel, the same problems apply. The Earth moves around the Sun, the Sun moves around the galaxy and the galaxy moves, too. So if you time-traveled one hour into the future, you’d materialize in space.
If you jumped one million years into the future, who knows where you would end up? In the interior of a star?
Apparently the logistics of overcoming the problems of space and time are insurmountable. It’s fun to pretend they don’t, the way Alfred Bester did in The Stars my Destination or the way Mr. Wizard did with Tutor Turtle. But reality is a different story. Damn.
4 comments:
Your problem Bob, is that you're a chicken shit.
Why, I've lost count of the number of times I transcended the physical limits of time and space.
And I always make it back, safe and sound, puking my guts up in a snow drift behind the peeler bar. (It's a side effect of time travel - and a quart of cheap malt liquor...).
:)
If I recall my college physics classes correctly, there is no mathematical or physical law against time travel. Only the statistical law of entropy.
"I've thought about teaching myself teleportation and time travel, but I realized there are some pretty bad problems associated with them. Insurmountable problems, apparently."
The most 'insurmountable problem' is the assumption that you can teleport by 'teaching yourself'. lol
Consider the positives tho, Bob. All the other Insurmountable Problems after that ain't so insurmountable. :O)
My understanding was that it's possible like the telephone. Also, like the telephone, a person needs a doorway and both ends to work, which would resolve the issue of location in space.
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