>>I just heard it was 'a planet'.
>>So, do terrans get an IP boost from alian technology that makes warp drive possible?
>>
>>I just hope it is on a channel that I can get.
>>JLK
>
> PMFJI, but we ARE taking about Star Trek here... Anyway, if you saw the movie "First Contact" you know about Warp Drive. A change from the explanation on the original series. In the original series, the guy's name was still Zephram Cochrane, but he was an inhabitant of a colony around Alpha Centauri. Probably 15 years ago now, there was a book written called "First Contact" which was NOT exactly like the movie of the same name, which moved Cochrane to Earth (how would we get to other stars without warp drive, eh?). Like the movie, Cochrane launched his experimental ship coincidently at the same time a Vulcan survey ship was pasing through our solar system. Humans first contact with aliens was with the Vulcans.
> I scare myself sometimes. I think I'm getting too old to name the old series episode and air date within the first minute though. Any idea what a copy of Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, signed by Scotty, would go for? Yes, I used to watch WAY too much Star Trek, we had a PBS station here that showed 3 uncut and commercial free episodes per night, in order.
>
> Randy

Hi Randy,
I loved the movie "First Connect", if we are talking about the one starring Jody Foster. If we are not, then expand a little, I am interested!

BTW, as an aside, have you seen the website of Dr. Fran De Aquino? He purports to have created an electrical device that creates a particular type of electric field, which causes objects it envelopes to lose weight. On his site he displays the Einstein metric and photographs of the experimental setup, along with charts and graphs, the claims he reduced the weight of a 36 Kg object by nearly 30%. He does consulting for the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He claims that with the proper adjustments the weight of an object can be reduced to the mg range, and that speeds faster than light are possible.


"From the combination of these two equations we conclude that t' = t .This
means that the particle will be not more submitted to the relativistic effects
predicted in Einstein's theory. So, it can reach and even surpass the speed of
light . We can imagine a spacecraft with positive gravitational mass qual to
(m) kg , and negative gravitational mass ( see System-G in appendix A) equal
to - (m - 0.001) kg . It has a shield of photons , as above mentioned. If the
photons, which produce the shield , radiate from the surface of the
spacecraft , then the space-time that it occupies remains non-euclidean ,and
consequently , for an observer in this space-time , the total gravitational
mass of the spacecraft, will be . Therefore , if its propulsion system
produces F=10N (only) the spacecraft acquires acceleration ( see Eq.(2.05)).

Furthermore, due to the "cloud" of photons around the spacecraft its
gravitational interaction with the Universe will be null , and therefore, we
can say that its gravitational mass will be null with respect to the Universe.
Consequently, the inertial forces upon the spacecraft will also be null, in
agreement with Eq.2.05 ( Mach’s principle ).This means that the spacecraft will
lose its inertial properties . In addition, the spacecraft will can reach and
even surpass the speed of light because , as we have seen , a particle with
null gravitational mass will be not submitted to the relativistic effects.

Fran De Aquino, April 20th, 2000"

The government of Brazil, where Aquino lives, created a special lab with lots of funding for him and put a security blanket around further announcements.
Research by several other nations is going full blast, the USA included.

http://www.elo.com.br/~deaquino/
http://members.aol.com/jnaudin509/systemg/html/gravcraft.htm

The experimental setup seems easy to reproduce, but the iron powder necessary is of special purity and formulation. It costs over $2,000 per lb, I hear. Several independent researchers (those at the site of the second URL) have tried to reproduce Aquino's results, but are currently not successful. But, they seem to be connected to a whole group of folks who don't seem to understand the the laws of thermodynamics, especially the 2nd Law.
JLK