Michio Kaku: Why We Can't "Fire the Photon Torpedoes"
Propelling a spaceship with photons would be like trying to energize a spaceship with a flashlight. Today, Dr. Kaku addresses a question posed by Serge ...
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Serge, some people have dreamed about photon power it sounds like a great concept right it's a great word but then you have to realize the practical problems on Star Trek they say fire the photon torpedoes well what is a photon torpedo a photon torpedo is a flashlight because what is the photon a photon is a particle of light that's all it is so you're basically trying to energize a spaceship with a flashlight so now you begin to realize the problem it sounds really neat it sounds science-fiction but the reality is the practical engineering is very difficult yes flashlights have an impulse if you turn on a flashlight you can actually measure the fact that the flashlight is moving slightly because of the impulse created by shooting our photons but it's very small and that's th...
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Serge, some people have dreamed about photon power it sounds like a great concept right it's a great word but then you have to realize the practical problems on Star Trek they say fire the photon torpedoes well what is a photon torpedo a photon torpedo is a flashlight because what is the photon a photon is a particle of light that's all it is so you're basically trying to energize a spaceship with a flashlight so now you begin to realize the problem it sounds really neat it sounds science-fiction but the reality is the practical engineering is very difficult yes flashlights have an impulse if you turn on a flashlight you can actually measure the fact that the flashlight is moving slightly because of the impulse created by shooting our photons but it's very small and that's th...
