What if we could move at the speed of light?

Reading time: 2 min – Viewed on Space.com

Which never wanted to go ahead like a movie Star Wars At the speed of light? With scientific advances, some dream of a world where we humans can accomplish this feat.

Above all, and at the risk of disappointing some, this will never be possible. As Space.com suggests, a living creature cannot move as fast as light, or 299,792,458 meters per second. But let’s imagine that this can happen, then what will happen in our body? First of all, we are not able to feel constant motion, so we don’t even notice that we are moving that fast. In fact, the biggest problem will actually be the acceleration required to reach that speed.

Slice like a pancake

Excessive acceleration forces can injure or even kill us. If the acceleration is too fast, “Your blood will have difficulty circulating to your extremities”, explains Michael Pravika, professor of physics at the University of Nevada in the United States. Indeed, humans can withstand acceleration forces about four to six times greater than gravity alone (4 to 6). g). And this for a short period of time. as strength g

increases, the body’s ability to circulate blood from the head to the feet decreases, blood builds up, leading to fainting and then death as the body is deprived of oxygen carried by the blood. Fighter pilots, for example, learn techniques to avoid passing out and wear special suits.

If, as in the movies, the acceleration period lasts only a few seconds, we will instantly be compressed by a force of 6,000. g Which will hit us over the head. 2 would need more than five months to safely reach the speed of light g (assuming one moves in a straight line and there is no air resistance).

“If you could go close to the speed of light, you would experience the effects of relativity in time”

, explains Michael Pravika. Time will pass more slowly for you than for others, who then seem to move in slow motion.