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Teleport to/from Any Two Places on Earth
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Post by
MyTie
If you can teleport into a wall and die (should they happen to build one above your teleport pad), then what would be the effect of someone walking along MyTie's sidewalk when he teleports over to go bank robbing?I would only use the pad in the other direction, and only for limited bank robbing uses.
Post by
Squishalot
If you can teleport into a wall and die (should they happen to build one above your teleport pad), then what would be the effect of someone walking along MyTie's sidewalk when he teleports over to go bank robbing?I would only use the pad in the other direction, and only for limited bank robbing uses.
Still, more the principle of it. I've often considered the thought experiment of 'what if teleporting were real?', and it always came down to the following points:
(conditional on the notion that teleporting had to be done in a line-of-sight perspective, i.e. we can't teleport to something we can't see)
1) You would have high visibility tele-pads located in key stations, much the same as metro or train stations.
2) To eliminate the problem of teleporting and ripping the fabric of another person apart, the teleport would need to assess the physical location and move your destination position away slightly to avoid dense objects, or alternatively, push away nearby less dense objects.
This would be a mechanic you'd need to overcome, no matter what version of teleportation you do - air molecules would need to be pushed away, as opposed to merged with your body.
3) If you're pushing people out of the way, or you're being pushed out of the way, then eventually, if lots of people want to use the terminal, they'll push people off the edge of the high visibility platform.
Bad thoughts, eh?
Post by
Interest
I would grant myself the ability to teleport between my Seattle home and my East Coast home.
Would save thousands on plane tickets..I'll tell ya that.
Post by
Septimus
My head hurts.
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
Dr. Kelly,
This may seem like a random and strange question, but it arose in this discussion I was having with someone.
He claims that because the universe is accelerating in its increase in size it is therefore infinite in size by definition (or at least that's what I think he's saying). Right off the bat that seems completely erroneous and makes no sense to me (as a philosopher, I haven't done much ion the way of formal physics).
Is there any truth to what he is saying? We're kind of at am impasse because he thinks it's self-evident that what he's saying it true; but it seems self-evident that it's false to me.
Here are a couple of his direct quotes--maybe I'm just misinterpreting his position:
"There is empirical evidence that the size of the universe is getting bigger, and that it is getting bigger at a faster rate. i.e., the size of the universe is infinite."
"The idea of infinity is that you keep getting bigger, and you don't stop. Or you keep getting closer and closer to a zero point, and you don't stop. The universe isn't going to stop getting bigger. I.e., infinity."
Now, I agree--to use Aristotle's terminology--that it's potentially infinite (again from a philosophical understanding of infinity), but I fail to see how it can actually infinite as he seems to be saying.
Any light you could shed on this would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
<name removed>
Hi <name removed>,
Well, as usual, the "answer" is a bit complicated.
In the standard idealized cosmological models
(FLRW: Friedmann, Lemaitre, Robertson, Walker) the
(average) spatial curvature of the universe may be
positive (like a sphere), zero (like a plane), or
negative (hard to imagine -- it is to a sphere like
a hyperbola is to a circle).
Think of the volume of space as analogous to the
areas of a sphere (finite), plane (infinite - barely),
hyperboloid (strongly infinite).
Thus, two of the three archetypical cosmological possibilities
describe universes with infinite volume at any "instant."
Each model predicts a different ultimate future for the universe:
sphere -- big bang, expansion slows, stops, contraction occurs, big crunch
flat -- big bang, expansion slows, slows, slows, never quite stops
hyperboloid -- big bang, expansion continues to accelerate.
Early on, aesthetic reasons (in part owing to a reluctance to embrace
infinite spatial volume at all times), led people to prefer the spherical
model.
Complicating feature: There is a significant tweak to the FLRW model
called "inflation." This posits that there was a period of rapid expansion
in the early universe. Inflation drives the universe toward "flatness."
Later, it was felt that the flat model seemed to be the universe's choice
(despite the fine-tuning needed to stay flat).
Current observations seem to show accelerating expansion. Some view this
as conclusive evidence that the hyperboloid geometry is the best model.
SO -- you are correct in that your friend's reasoning is not compelling.
YET -- your friend is correct in that the most recent set of observations
seems to favour the hyperboloid geometry. It's just that the linkage
between present-day acceleration and volume is somewhat more subtle
than was implied.
Cheers + I hope that this helps,
PK
Patrick Kelly
Post by
Septimus
I got through your email alright, but the second paragraph in his... I think my brain imploded, now there is stuff leaking out of my ears...
Post by
42080
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
TheMediator
That's a good explanation. More simplistically, say you have two lines at an angle, the area between those two lines is infinite. However, if you increase the angle between the lines, you should intuitively see that the area between the lines is getting larger, even though the area was already infinity. That's how you can have an increasing infinite - if the equivalent of the angle of the universe is getting larger at a progressively larger rate, then you could have acceleration of size of an infinitely large area.
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
What are you trying to prove?
That acceleration --/-> infinity necessarily.
Post by
MyTie
What are you trying to prove?
That acceleration --/-> infinity necessarily.
I think that is true. I think it would also be accurate to say that the presence of acceleration doesn't rule out infinity.
Post by
MyTie
So, if the galaxies are accelerating away from eachother, at continuingly faster rates... what happens when a galaxy reaches the speed of light? Does it slow down? Does it fall apart?
Post by
ASHelmy
I read it. It was very boring to me, and had a hard time holding my interest. I seem to remember it being a very small book.
It is small. I was actually surprised at the size of it.
Small relative to what? :P
Anyway, to put the absolute/relative debate to bed, the original question is about teleporting to places "on Earth", which means that any place has to be set relative to the Earth.
The bit about teleporting into walls is an interesting one though. If you can teleport into a wall and die (should they happen to build one above your teleport pad), then what would be the effect of someone walking along MyTie's sidewalk when he teleports over to go bank robbing?
...To the size of an average physics book, I assume?
Post by
Jrubzjeknf
You know, this would've been a pretty good thread without the banter about absolute locations and whatever.
Me: I'd pick a spot here at home and my university, so it saves me travelling 3-4 hours a day. Or one in Amsterdam and New York and make a killing with teleporting people.
Post by
273605
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343569
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282759
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301983
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Post by
kattib
Fort knox and a random deadrop location
or on two posterboards...but what happens if you put one portal through another? Id guess a black hole
Post by
Adamsm
I would transport my self to Megan Fox's bedroom....what? :p
Why?
Post by
260787
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
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