Warp Speed Will Kill You

[mickw]

Captain Kirk might want to avoid taking the starship Enterprise to warp speed, unless he's ready to shrug off interstellar hydrogen atoms that would deliver a lethal radiation blast to both ship and crew.

There are just two hydrogen atoms per cubic centimeter on average in space, which poses no threat to spaceships traveling at low speeds. But those same lone atoms would transform into deadly galactic space mines for a spaceship that runs into them at near-light speed, according to calculations based on Einstein's special theory of relativity.

More:   Doh

[Rocket Pooch]

Hang on two things;

1 - The deflector dish stops this from ever happening on the space ship
2 - The Inertial dampers stop them from going splat within the ship

On more primitive space ships there have been another couple of options, one is to harvest the hydrogen and use it as fuel this was the ploy used in the Coyote books, the second is to make the front of the space ships very pointy and cover them in ice then the atoms would go around the ships; however that does not explain how the conjoiner drives work.

You would not beleieve how sad I can get on scifi devices.

[mickw]

Chris, you do yourself no justice..........

It's knowledgeable not sad 

[PhilB]

On more primitive space ships there have been another couple of options, one is to harvest the hydrogen and use it as fuel this was the ploy used in the Coyote books, the second is to make the front of the space ships very pointy and cover them in ice then the atoms would go around the ships; however that does not explain how the conjoiner drives work.

Nah, the best way is to simply fold space,then make a hole and drop through it!

[doug]

     That`s the basis of warp drive, Phil ........ folding space into a wormhole.   

     Doug.

[Ian]

see Mick, you need to read the news before you post it.

How can you hit hydrogen atoms at warp speed when you're not in the same set of dimensions as they are? To be honest though, it'd be the thought of plunging into a star that would give me the willies. It'd be just our luck to find we can jump into a new set of dimensions only to find that those dimensions are completely filled with housebricks.

[PhilB]

... To be honest though, it'd be the thought of plunging into a star that would give me the willies.

Surely the argument you applied to hydrogen atoms also applies to stars?