But Seriously, A Warp Drive?

Seriously, a warp drive.

As I mentioned in my last post (A 3D Future?), the idea that something like a warp drive could work within the laws of physics might easily be the most exciting concept of the next 100 years, although one based purely in theory and requiring significant funding and effort.

The science for the idea has been around since 1994 from theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre.  He wrapped theoretical science like relativity around the stunning idea that humans can travel faster than the speed of light to come up with the Alcubierre Drive.  When Einstein came up with the theory of relativity mankind began to unravel the mysteries of physics and the universe.  Einstein's famous formula says that E=MC2, or, energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.  Therefore, as we near zero mass (molecule/photon small), to have any significant energy would require immense speed.  The greatest speed we could imagine is the speed of light in a vacuum (no friction) which comes out to just over 186,000 MPH.  Except that's not true.

The Alcubierre Drive, Colorful Lights Not Included

A Simple Quote From A Super Simple Man

The key to this is dark energy.  Dark energy is 75%-85% of matter in the universe yet we know very little about it.  Think of dark matter as the water of the Pacific Ocean, with planets, stars, or anything else with mass represented by fish.  If the fastest fish swims forward at 150,000 MPH (less than the speed of light) we can observe this speed.  However, we're also in the current moving across the Pacific at an additional 200,000 MPH, but this is relative to us so we still say the fish is moving 150,000 MPH, not 350,000 MPH.  Dark matter is the water we float in, and it doesn't follow normal rules.  Imagine pushing a few Skittles into a Play-Doh disk and then stretching the Play-Doh out, the Play-Doh is the expanding fabric of the universe that is pushing planets (Skittles) further away from each other.  To conclude, dark matter can expand and contract faster than the speed of light.  The Alcubierre Drive is simply finding a way to ride that wave.

Not Play-Doh

Artists Interpretation Of Dark Matter, Allegedly

The Alcubierre Drive itself is not a spacecraft, but rather a device attached to a spacecraft that creates a massive amount of energy, expands space behind your ship, and contracts space in front of the ship.  If you refer to the picture below the mechanics are more obvious.  The (1) on the left side is space being expanded behind the ship (think of a wave coming up out of the ocean propelling you forward), while the (3) on the right side is space being contracted in front of the ship (literally there is less space between the ship and its destination, like a breaking wave).

Imagine Turning Headlights On Going Faster Than Light

Hopefully you're excited about the possibilities at this point, but there are many difficulties still standing in the way of this becoming reality, the first of which is the need for massive amounts of energy.  Initially Alcubierre formulated that to generate enough energy to bend space would require a Jupiter sized object.  However in 2011 Harold White (a NASA engineer) played with the equation and and discovered that a slight change in shape and thickness could shrink the required equipment from Jupiter sized to 1,600 pounds!  The technology to generate the energy would most likely utilize something called the Casimir Effect for those interested, but that's a whole other article in itself.  Additional problems include that what happens within the expanding/contracting bubble as well as the effects of decelerating from such a high speed are unknown.  Either way, the theory has enough roots in reality that NASA moved the project up from 'conjecture' to 'speculation'.

North America To Scale On Jupiter. Keep Running Forrest.

If we can ignore the fact that such technology may take decades to work, if it ever does at all, we can imagine some truly awesome possibilities.  In terms of speed, travelling to our closest neighbor star takes over 4 years at the speed of light, but only about 2 weeks with Alcubierre's Drive. Extrapolating forward that means that humans would suddenly possess the ability to travel to other hospitable planets, and either colonize or meet colonies of other galaxies.  Limited resources would suddenly be unlimited with the ability to mine/collect these resources from unique asteroids and planets everywhere.

Like the Earth sized planet made out of diamond 40 light years away worth $26.9 Nonillion, or for those like me not well versed in numbers over the Trillions: $26,900,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

That's Gonna Be One Lucky Girl

If the Alcubierre Drive doesn't work we can always look at the Krasnikov tube or worm holes.  Until then just hope we see something like this in our lifetimes, it would be more important than just about every invention leading up to it, combined.  Plus I'd really love to shake hands with an alien.

-Ryan Gardner

A 3D Future?

A 3D Future?

If you were to observe mankind 400 years ago and compare it to mankind 4,000 years ago you would see an eerily similar picture, with only some added diversity and a small number of living conveniences to set us apart.  However, the past 400 years have been a time that has changed everything we know about ourselves and the world around us, bringing us to the technology reliant society we are today. 

But what’s next?  To think about technology in huge waves, or revolutions, is one way to observe the great changes of humans.  A leader on the subject, Dr. Daniel Smihula proposed that humanity has gone through 5 distinct technological revolutions in modern history:
1. The Financial-agricultural revolution (1600–1740)
2. The Industrial revolution (1780–1840)
3. The Technical revolution (1880–1920)
4. Scientific-technical revolution (1940–1970)
5. The Information and telecommunications revolution (1985–2000).
6. ???

 First, you may notice a pattern in the years.  Life changing periods of innovation are compounding on each other and growing technology at an exponential pace.  The time from the start of the early Financial-agricultural revolution to the start of the Industrial revolution took 180 years.  180 years of improving crop yields to sustain larger populations and freeing up more manpower before we could move on to the Industrial revolution and greater innovations like the railroad, textiles, and iron.  100 years passed and next came the Technical revolution in 1880 which brought to us steam power, machine tools, and more.  After the start of the Technical revolution it only took 60 years to enter the Scientific-technical revolution and bring the world nuclear energy and space flight.  Lastly we only needed to wait 45 brief years for the globe to connect with the internet in the Information and telecommunications revolution from 1985-2000.

Most people agree the Information revolution ended around the year 2000 with the internet bubble.  That has left many people wondering when the next great technological revolution will begin.  It has been 29 years since the last revolution, 16 year shorter than the previous period of "rest", and although it is difficult to see the Present in historical context, we are already in the next revolution, 3D printing.  As technology begins converging to the point of Artificial Intelligence, space colonization, nanotechnology, and even unlocking our genetic code, the lines begin to blur at the massive, exponential growth of technology and what could come next. 

If any one idea can help to grasp this growth it is Moore’s Law (the number of transistors in a circuit doubles every two years).  Since 1970 (the end of the Scientific-technical revolution) computers have essentially become 10 million times as powerful, and your iPhone now has more computing power than the Apollo 11 that landed us on the moon. 

So where does 3D printing come in? Everywhere.

3D printing is finding a way into every industry across the globe much in the same way the internet changed business in the 2000’s.  There are 3D printers already being used to help with surgery, build cars, enhance style, and so much more.

There are two very opposite directions in which 3D printing seems primed to completely change the way we live over the next two years.  Complex details, and huge manufacturing.  On the complex side 3D printing is allowing us to print at .5 millimeters detail in our own homes, with industrial printers being even more finely calibrated.  This allows us to construct amazing design concepts as well as small parts like an ear (as they did at Cornell University) if printing with a skin mimic material.

Sweet, Beautiful Complexity

Sorry Van Gogh

On the other side we’re seeing modern manufacturing methods being destroyed with the cheaper and quicker 3D printing available.   Local Motors in Chicago just printed a full car as many car companies have phased in 3D prints as part of their assembly lines already.  Even bigger comes the ability to print entire houses, like Chinese company WinSun has perfected, now printing as many as 10 house in a single day!

Making Smart Cars Cool?

Making Cookie Cutting Cool?

So where are we heading with this incredible technology? It’s up to business owners everywhere to decide that just as they did with the internet 20 years ago.  We have seen surgeons print replica jaws of a patient to practice the exact jaw surgery they are about to do before attempting on the patient.  Acoustic guitars are being printed and customized in seconds.  You can get yourself scanned and printed as a mini figurine.  A man in Japan was even arrested for firing a 3D printed gun recently. 

This is not a fad.  It is today.  It is tomorrow. It is the next revolution of mankind, and one this author hopes will be the last terrestrial revolution before we colonize the cosmos in 3D printed ships with warp drives, seriously. (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/warpstat_prt.htm)

-Ryan Gardner

To learn more about 3D printing visit these great pages:

20 Awesome 3D Prints: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/3d-printings/

3D Printing Basics Overview: http://3dprinting.com/what-is-3d-printing/

Up To Date 3D Printing News: http://www.3ders.org/