VulpesIncendium t1_j64hp66 wrote on January 27, 2023 at 5:30 PM

With our current understanding of physics, such a thing is literally impossible.

But as a thought experiment, let's say some alien civilization has figured out how to send a signal faster than the speed of light. What would that look like to us? I think it would appear as though a signal blinked into existence, with no discernable origin point. Depending on just how much faster they could send the signal, and how far it travelled, it would probably look like it appeared ahead of an observable planet, like where the planet will eventually end up many years in the future.

Deep_BrownEyes t1_j64oldi wrote on January 27, 2023 at 6:12 PM

Wouldn't it appear to travel backwards? The signal appears out of nowhere as it is received and slowly traces backwards to its origin

AirierWitch1066 t1_j66buzv wrote on January 28, 2023 at 12:44 AM

This supposes that the signal must be “sent.”

Orson Scott Card in Ender’s Game came up with an Ansible which worked via two entangled particles - you could spin one and the other would spin the same no matter how far away it was.

This probably isn’t actually possible, but I think in our hypotheticals it’s fair to consider a form of communication in which the information doesn’t travel faster than light, because it doesn’t travel at all, it simply exists at both ends.

VulpesIncendium t1_j66s76g wrote on January 28, 2023 at 2:51 AM

I actually thought about mentioning this, since it's the same exact sci-fi technology they use in the Mass Effect game series to explain instantaneous communication across the galaxy. It's an interesting idea, but I just dismissed it as impossible sci-fi magic. But, who knows? Maybe one day it could be the basis for some real world technology.