Exploring the Possibilities of Space Travel
Many of us form our ideas about space based on what we see in movies and TV shows like Star Trek and Star Wars. These shows often depict concepts like warp speed, which involves moving quickly between dimensions. While there is a mathematical description of warp drive, it is unlikely to become a practical reality in the foreseeable future.
Warp drives require extremely strange phenomena, even weirder than dark energy. One possibility is traveling through wormholes, but so far, there is no evidence to support their existence. Wormholes collapse faster than we can move through them, and we have yet to discover a way to counteract this collapse.
Teleportation, on the other hand, is a concept that has some grounding in current technology. Scientists have successfully teleported atoms, but teleporting anything more complex, like a human, is currently beyond our capabilities. The amount of information required to transmit the composition of a human would take millions or billions of years using normal radio signals.
Overall, while some concepts from science fiction may inspire scientific research, the practicality of space travel depicted in movies and TV shows remains questionable. It is important to separate fact from fiction when considering the possibilities of space exploration.
Accuracy in Movies
The movie Interstellar provides an intriguing representation of a black hole. The filmmakers consulted with experts to ensure accuracy, including physicist Kip Thorne from Caltech. The depiction of the black hole and its accretion disk in the movie is considered to be as close to reality as possible.
One detail the movie got right is that the black hole does not absorb material from its accretion disk. This would create an overwhelming amount of energy that would be harmful to anyone near the black hole. The filmmakers took this into account, showing a realistic portrayal of the black hole.
While it can be frustrating when movies get scientific details wrong, Interstellar's depiction of a black hole has educational value and is often shown to students as an example.
From the event horizon telescope, they look a lot like that movie. So, what you're seeing is the accretion disk. It does not look like Saturn's rings in that picture. It looks like it gets bent up behind the black hole. This is because the light coming off of that accretion disk is getting bent around the black hole and coming to you at a 90-degree angle. It looks like you're basically seeing behind the black hole because the light is getting bent. This is called strong gravitational lensing.
Kip Thorne, a theoretical physicist, was the lead consultant for the movie. He had the opportunity to create realistic graphics and animations of black holes, which led to scientific papers being written. There is a great marriage between art and science, and it can encourage curiosity from the public.
While some scientists may complain about movies getting things wrong, it is important to be positive and encourage curiosity. Movies and shows that break the rules of physics can tell great human stories.
Access to accurate information is important for the public to have a deeper understanding of science. It is intimidating to try to wrap your head around what is happening in the universe, but curiosity is key.
Matthew McConaughey's character in the movie drifts into a black hole. It is unclear if he could survive, but it is unlikely due to the extreme gravitational forces.
Spaghettification is the process of being stretched into a string of spaghetti when being pulled into a black hole. It is a painful way to go and is caused by the difference in gravitational forces on the front and back of an object.
Time would slow down for someone falling into a black hole, but for outside observers, they would see the motion becoming slower and slower. The stretching of light from the black hole also affects the perception of time.
There are dimensions of space, but whether there is another dimension beyond a black hole depends on the definition of "dimension."
