http://ask.metafilter.com/225167/Breaking-one-law-of-nature-should-allow-you-to-break-all-the-others-right/ Comments on Ask MetaFilter post Breaking one law of nature should allow you to break all the others, right? Mon, 24 Sep 2012 02:42:45 -0800 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 03:53:52 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://ask.metafilter.com/225167/Breaking-one-law-of-nature-should-allow-you-to-break-all-the-others-right Would cheap FTL flight mean free unlimited energy? <br /><br /> Say someone gave you a school bus sized vessel that could transition from a dead stop to 10 times the speed of light using only the amount of energy stored within an ordinary car battery. The vessel is not capable of going any other speed and appears to accelerate instantly. It is irreproducible and you have no idea how it works.<br> <br> Using this vessel, how would you go about permanently solving the world's energy problems? Bonus points if, aside from this vessel, your solution requires only existing and readily available technology. post:ask.metafilter.com,2012:site.225167 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 02:42:45 -0800 256 http://ask.metafilter.com/225167/Breaking-one-law-of-nature-should-allow-you-to-break-all-the-others-right#3257093 I'd be afraid to turn the thing on, if it was sitting on the ground, inside the atmosphere. It would destroy itself the first time it ran by hitting the atmosphere, and the resulting shockwave would probably destroy the surface of the earth. comment:ask.metafilter.com,2012:site.225167-3257093 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 03:53:52 -0800 Chocolate Pickle