With the use of melange, the geriatric spice, Guild Navigators are the only beings capable of piloting the massive Guild heighliners safely through space. The heightened awareness and prescience the spice grants allows the Navigator to plot a safe course between the stars. Contrary to popular belief, the navigators do not themselves 'fold' space, allowing a nearly instantaneous trip. The space-folding is accomplished by Holtzman engines activated from the navigator's chamber.
In the original novels by Frank Herbert, the Navigators are humans who have adapted to life in zero-gravity. They have slim builds, with large webbed hands and prehensile feet. They must spend their time in an artificial zero-gravity chamber when visiting a planetary surface, as exposure to full earth gravity would be (at best) highly uncomfortable, and potentially lethal. Whether this adaptation is the result of artificial engineering or many millennia of selective breeding is not stated in the books. The David Lynch film of Dune introduced the idea of the Navigators being "mutated" by exposure to the spice, and shows three "stages" of this mutation. The final, most advanced stage is a huge, sluglike creature. Herbert is known to have liked this design, and allusions in the final Dune books may indicate that he adopted the concept for his own works. ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Mr. Worf" <hellomahog...@...> wrote: > > Wasn't the Guild using the spice to get high so that they could make the > calculations? > > On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 2:51 PM, ravenadal <ravena...@...> wrote: > > > Everyone knows the only effective way to cover the vast reaches of the > > universe is by "folding space" and folding space is only possible with the > > spice Melange that is only found on the desert planet Arakis, otherwise > > known as Dune. > > > > ~rave! > > > > --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@> > > wrote: > > > > > > Fascinating stuff, especially the whole thing about whether we live in a > > "1 +1 = 2" or "1 + 1 = 3" universe. But something struck me as odd about > > this article: the subject doesn't fit the title. The title--which I admit > > caught my eye--is all about black holes swallowing Earth. The body of the > > article, however, is more about the Alcubierre drive, how it could work, and > > whether the method is even the right one for our dimension.The black hole > > danger is only one small, frankly insignificant, facet of the piece. > > > Wow: sensationalist, attention-grabbing headlines even in advanced > > science? Now I know the Apocalypse is near! > > > > > > ***************************************** > > > > > > http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/06/11/warp-drive-engine-02.html > > > > > > June 11, 2009 -- "Star Trek" makes faster-than-light travel look easy, > > but according to new calculations by Italian physicists, a warp drive could > > easily create a black hole that would incinerate any passengers on a space > > craft and then suck Earth into a black hole . > > > > > > > > > "Warp drives are so far the best case scenario to attain > > faster-than-light travel," said Stefano Finazzi of Italy's International > > School for Advanced Studies. This paper "makes it much harder to realize, if > > not almost impossible, warp drives." > > > > > > WATCH VIDEO: Explore the possibilities of time travel with Michio Kaku. > > > > > > In normal physics, nothing can move faster than the speed of light. > > Einstein's theory of relativity forbids it. In normal space any object > > approaching the speed of light will increase in mass exponentially, and > > require an exponential increase in the amount of power needed to propel it > > forward. > > > > > > There are two exceptions to this rule however. The first is what's > > commonly called a worm hole , a bridge connecting two different parts of > > space. A ship crossing this bridge would move at below light speed, but > > still arrive before a beam of light that would have had to go the long way > > around. Warp drives are the second and more appealing option. A ship can't > > move through space faster than the speed of light. But with enough energy, > > space itself can move faster than the speed of light. > > > > > > Known for the Mexican physicist Michael Alcubierre who originally > > developed the idea in the 1990's, an Alcubierre warp drive would create a > > bubble of energy behind the ship and a lack of energy in front of the ship, > > like a giant cosmic wave a space ship could surf . That particular section > > of space can travel faster than the speed of light in the surrounding space, > > and anything on or in that bubble will accelerate with it. > > > > > > Finazzi and his colleagues propose creating this bubble of space-time by > > using a massive amount of "exotic matter," or dark energy. (Exactly how this > > bubble would be created is still a mystery.) According to their calculations > > and simplified, it would take a huge amount of energy to create the bubble, > > and then increasing amounts of energy to contain the highly repulsive dark > > energy. > > > > > > Eventually the energy would run out. The bubble would rupture, with > > catastrophic effects. Inside the bubble the temperature would rise to about > > 10^32 degrees Kelvin, destroying almost anything on the bubble. > > > > > > Anyone watching the ship nearby wouldn't be much better off. > > > > > > "We know that the warp drive will be destabilized," said Finazzi. "But we > > do not know if it will in the end explode or collapse to a black hole." > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Other physicists agree with the Italians' calculations, up to a point. > > > > > > "It's a good paper; their results are sound," said Gerald Cleaver, a > > professor of physics at Baylor University who reviewed the work. The results > > make sense, at least, when creating warp drive using exotic matter in a > > universe where 1 plus 1 equals 2. > > > > > > In a universe where 1 plus 1 equals 3, a possibility with string theory > > instead of the semi classical physics used by the Italians, a stable warp > > drive is viable. > > > > > > Last year Cleaver and co-author Richard Obousy detailed a string > > theory-based warp drive that creates a bubble of space time by expanding one > > of the tiny, rolled-up dimensions (instead of a bubble of dark energy) > > predicted by string theory. > > > > > > The biggest sticking point to a extra dimension-based warp drive? The > > entire mass of Jupiter would have to be converted into pure energy to power > > it. > > > > > > The real question is not whether a warp drive, which by Cleaver's > > estimate is hundreds of years away, will be stable or not. It's about the > > fundamentals of the universe; do we live in a universe where 1 plus 1 equals > > 2 or 3? Until scientists can answer that question, there will be significant > > limitations on scientific models of the universe. > > > > > > "These papers suggest limitations to what we can and can't do," said > > Cleaver. "We as scientists enjoy these papers because then we can look for > > ways to get around those limitations." > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Post your SciFiNoir Profile at > > > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! > > Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Bringing diversity to perversity for 9 years! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ >
