Re: Faster Than Light Travel

At 03:35 PM 9/11/97 -0400,  Joachim Heck wrote:
>Chris McCurry writes:
>
>@:) But thinking about it, I can only think of three truly different
>@:) ways to travel at high speeds in S.Fiction.  Every thing else is
>@:) just a variation of one of those themes:
>@:) 
>@:) 1) hyperspace / warp space / worm holes / etc.
>@:) 2) Folding / warping (changing the reality of space time)
>@:) 3) conventional travel
>
>  I think you're right.  Basically you either traverse some space to
SNIP
>  The closest thing I can think of that is any different from any of
>these is some kind of teleoperation/astral projection scheme, but then
>you're not really going anywhere, I guess, so it doesn't count.
>
>  I too would be very interested to hear any ideas that are somehow
>different from these apparently catch-all transportation methods.
>
>-joachim

There's Harry Harrison's "bloater drive" from "Bill the Galactic Hero"-
the
distances between the particles of the ship are enlarged hugely, while
keeping the ship's stern fixed at the point of departure.  Relatively
tiny
star-systems can be seen appearing to float through the ship.  When the
bow
arrives at its destination, it is fixed there.	The stern is released,
and
the vessel is "de-bloated"....

Rob Paul

"
Rob Paul
Dept. of Zoology
University of Oxford
South Parks Road
Oxford
(01865) 271124

rpaul@worf.molbiol.ox.ac.uk

Once again, villainy is rotting meat before the maggots of justice!
"