Hypothetical Questions

[VonMessa]

Wasn't that how Sam Neill explained it in the movie Event Horizon?

Pretty much.

That is also pretty much how it would work if space-time could

A)  be be warped or folded at will

B) or wormholes existed or could be created

We already know that gravity can bend light and therefore, theoretically warp space-time.  It is one of the tools used by Einstein when trying to prove his theories as evidenced from the photos of the 1922 eclipse that the "Wallal expeditions" took of light bending as it passed by a massive body with gravity which , in this case, was our sun.  He had to wait until prime eclipse conditions existed however, so the evidence could be obtained.

Einstein put up with a lot of ridicule until this evidence was obtained.

EDIT:

It apparently looks a bit like this when it happens (the earth being the massive object and the grid being space-time):




Here is a link for more info.

http://www.windwardcomputer.com/blog/2011/05/13/einsteins-theories-confirmed-again-by-nasa-probe/

[Pand]

http://www.ibiblio.org/samneill/sounds/eh/explanation.wav

[Dragon]

For arguement's sake, let's say Einstein was correct with lightspeed and time differential between the space traveler and the people of Earth after the traveler left.  He postulated that one year at lightspeed would equal 100 years on the Earth.  And, technology in the future has no negative drawbacks.  Humans developed the means of instant communication between the planets over 4 light years distant.

In the year 2100 AD, humans have developed the means to travel at the speed of light safely in a spaceship.  The crew of the spaceship spends 4 years at light speed traveling to Alpha Cenaturi to land on a planet orbiting the twin star system.  For the travelers, it's 2104 AD roughly and on Earth it's roughly 2500 AD.

In the year 2200 AD, humans have improved on lightspeed technology to increase speed to twice that of light speed.  A new crew is launched with the improved spaceship to Alpha Centauri.  After roughly 2 years at twice the speed of light, the crew is roughly at 2202 AD and the on Earth it's roughly 2400 AD.

In the year 2300 AD, humans have doubled the lightspeed technology again to 4 times the speed of light.  Another crew is sent to Alpha Centauri with the improved spaceship.  After one year traveling there, the crew would be around 2301 AD and the Earth would be at 2400 AD.

Now for the questions. 

Which human crew would arrive first on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri?

Which crew be the first to communicate with Earth?

The 2300 crew would arrive first since the quadrupling of the top speed would also have produced a means to protect the inhabitants of the craft from the acceleration/deceleration stresses and it could be performed more rapidly.  The 2200 crew would arrive later by the time dependent on said accel/decel but would be relatively close to the same time.  The first crew would arrive 1 year after, Cenauri time, the 2200 crew plus the difference in accel/decel time.

   

[mthrockmor]

I don't have enough information. One quick question:

Is it an African Swallow or a European Swallow?

Boo

[Meatwad]

I don't have enough information. One quick question:

Is it an African Swallow or a European Swallow?

Boo

It depends on how good it can grip the husk

[AKKuya]

Ready for the answer?

Once each crew left and went into lightspeed, three seperate timelines were created and each timeline would not include the other two crews.

30 plus years of Trek have taight me to not put much thought into space-time paradoxes and such.  It gives you a bad headache.