September 30, 2003
GO, SPEED RACER! (via brian boys):
Clark Campaigns at Light Speed (Brian McWilliams, Sep. 30, 2003, Wired)
Wesley Clark: Rhodes scholar, four-star general, NATO commander, futurist?During a whirlwind campaign swing Saturday through New Hampshire, Clark, the newest Democratic presidential candidate, gave supporters one of the first glimpses into his views on technology.
"We need a vision of how we're going to move humanity ahead, and then we need to harness science to do it," Clark told a group of about 50 people in Newcastle attending a house party -- a tradition in New Hampshire presidential politics that enables well-connected voters to get an up-close look at candidates.
Then, the 58-year-old Arkansas native, who retired from the military three years ago, dropped something of a bombshell on the gathering.
"I still believe in e=mc², but I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go," said Clark. "I happen to believe that mankind can do it."
"I've argued with physicists about it, I've argued with best friends about it. I just have to believe it. It's my only faith-based initiative." Clark's comment prompted laughter and applause from the gathering.
Gary Melnick, a senior astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said Clark's faith in the possibility of faster-than-light (FTL) travel was "probably based more on his imagination than on physics."
While Clark's belief may stem from his knowledge of sophisticated military projects, there's no evidence to suggest that humans can exceed the speed of light, said Melnick. In fact, considerable evidence posits that FTL travel is impossible, he said.
"Even if Clark becomes president, I doubt it would be within his powers to repeal the powers of physics," said Melnick, whose research has focused on interstellar clouds and the formation of stars and planets.
Geez, and the Left has coniptions because Reagan based his idea of an anti-missile shield on a movie. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 30, 2003 5:55 PM
Jerry Brown would be the perfect running mate for the General, don't you think?
They could conquer space together.
Honestly, can you imagine the outcry if George Bush or Dan Quayle had said this? Their political careers would be finished. I'm sure the General will be portrayed at visionary, like JFK in pointing to the moon. *sigh*
Posted by: kevin whited at September 30, 2003 6:10 PMAs a long-time science fan and science fiction reader, I find it odd that it's considered weird or crazy to say that we may one day figure out away around the speed of light.
Now, if Clark had said he, personally, could move that fast, that would be something else again....
Posted by: PapayaSF at September 30, 2003 7:32 PMMake that "a way around".
Posted by: PapayaSF at September 30, 2003 7:33 PMYeah, everything that we're doing now on the net would have been considered high brow science fiction 30 years ago before the dawn of cyberpunk. Actually, there are a lot of ways you could do it. String theory, which gets maligned for no damn good reason around here whilst a heaven of goodies and gumdrops and right wing republicans never gets a second look, would allow you to travel between the stars, if you could figure out the portals. I have no doubt that if we live long enough and if we aren't blown up by fundies with nuclear weapons we'll figure out FTL and the genome and many of the secrets of the universe with or without the consent of imaginary gods...
Posted by: Philip Shropshire at September 30, 2003 8:01 PMI wonder why Clark left out Dennis Kucinich's anti-mind control helmets.
Now if he had just said the word tachyon in his statement, then maybe we could take him seriously.
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 30, 2003 10:13 PMPhilip:
Exciting idea! What do you say we put the UN on it?
Posted by: Peter B at October 1, 2003 6:31 AMMr. Shropshire;
The problem isn't finding the technology to go superluminal but the effects of doing so. Superluminal travel can easily be used to time travel. You'd have to give up causality, but I suppose most Leftist have already disposed of that.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at October 1, 2003 9:56 AMconniptions
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at October 1, 2003 11:40 AMWhat a jerk. Save us from those who wish to "move humanity ahead" through the coercive power of the state.
Posted by: Tom C., Stamford,Ct. at October 1, 2003 12:05 PMFTL may or may not be impossible, but achieving it is extremely problematic, at the very least. I can't imagine it being developed on a scale bigger than microscopic in the next 100 years.
Posted by: DLirag at October 2, 2003 12:57 AM