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...and you're halfway between both, who would get the message first?

For example, let's say the trip is 4 light years long. You reach half the speed of light and you have a laser communication array pointing forward and backward. When you reach the midway point, you send the message to both places. Would they both get the message at the same time or would your destination get it first?

...and you're halfway between both, who would get the message first? For example, let's say the trip is 4 light years long. You reach half the speed of light and you have a laser communication array pointing forward and backward. When you reach the midway point, you send the message to both places. Would they both get the message at the same time or would your destination get it first?

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[–] • 0 pt

I've heard it said that the closer (your ship in this example) approaches the speed of light, the greater its mass becomes and at the speed of light, your ship reaches infinite mass. How can that possibly be?

[–] [deleted] • 2 pts

Well that just says that since it takes infinite energy to move infinite mass, then moving ANY mass to the speed of light is impossible. It's like dividing by zero, it's just plain not a thing. Actual impossibilities are rare, so relish this one.

[–] • 0 pt

I've seen that error shut down my programs before. "Division by 0. Process terminated." That bothers me. Division by zero should result in the original number. (1+1=2... 1-1=0... 1x1=1... 1/0=1) If you have 1 and divide it by nothing, shouldn't you still have 1?

[–] [deleted] • 2 pts

One times zero is zero. One times one is one. One divided by one is one. But one divided by zero is Indeterminate, because zero isn't a real number, it's a placeholder where a number would normally go. It's a null-value concept that is a bit like the "seat-fillers" at the Academy Awards. We could have lived entirely without a zero if we were comfortable leaving blank spaces in number columns. Think of it like the Joker in a poker hand. It's different things based on what we're going for, but really it's just an abstract concept used as shorthand for several related concepts.

[–] • 0 pt

No. Its not even infinity. Because a zero will NEVER, no matter how many times its multiplied, be more than zero. So you cannot devide a number by zero. Its a nonsense idea to try to do so. There is no mathematical way to represent the result.

[–] • 0 pt

Multiplication is "how many times do we add this" so 1x0 is zero because it's one, zero times.

Division is "how many times will this number go into that number" so 1/1 is one because you can fit one one into one. 1/0 isn't possible because how many times can zero go into one? Zero isn't an amount so you can't quantify it.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

That's the point. An object can't reach infinite mass, thus an object with mass can't travel at the speed of light. Only electromagnetic radiation can do that.