Have you ever imagined how interstellar travel could work? | Ryan Weed | TEDxDanubia 

"Do you want to be nomads again?"- Question thrilled me..

i can't get over how profoundly useless and utterly pointless my job is.... selling lamp shades.

I love how this comment section knows more about antimatter than the guy with a PhD in Positron Physics XD

Everyone here is talking about the video, I'm just staring at the title wishing my last name was "Weed"

I'd like to see your plans on dealing with dust particles moving at a good fraction of light speed relative to the ship.

This man deserve a huge amount of respect for what he has already achieved. Regards, Geoff. Reeks

imagine flying in your little antimatter spacecraft in space and then more advanced human spacecraft overtakes you and they laugh at you from the window. or could they even do that i wonder?

I would love to see a follow-on video about how you would navigate through space as you go faster and faster to avoid hitting solid matter which would destroy you. 1g constant acceleration doesnt sound much if you have a constant energy source but navigation safely would be tricky to say the least.

Seriously though.. if humans weren't so petty and we worked as a species instead of killing each other and dividing ourselves into nations and religions, we'd totally have a manned base on Mars by now.

My takeaway: THAT'S why it was so critical on the Enterprise that the Antimatter Containment Field didn't fail. Thank goodness for Scotty.

I would like to invite Mr.Ryan Weed to my country. We can not contribute to your idea and project, honestly. But we need human beings like you to enlighten our people.

I encourage everyone to watch "Best method for Interstellar travel"

One thing he never addressed and solved was the amount of matter that exists even at interstellar space, all of which you will be slamming into. And the faster you go, the more devastating they become.

it's people like this, often behind the scenes (getting evicted by nervous landlords!) that are inching humanity towards fantastic possibilities. Sir, I salute you.

Now this was excellent, finally some discutions about time dialation and this is very profound.

Incredible..and he explained all those in such a simplistic way i understood exactly everything he said. I have zero scientific background or self study on these matters.

The first thing humans would do with antimatter is make bombs.

Hello. Great video! Would love to help clarify for viewers: At 85% the speed of light, using antimatter propulsion, someone would arrive in 2.7 years, not 5. To us, of course, nothing can go faster than the speed of light.. which is a crazy thing considering that Alpha Centauri system is approximately 4.367 light years away. However, we have to consider relativity. On Earth, 'I see' (with my own eyes) that it takes 'you' 5 years to travel to Alpha Centauri. On the other hand, if 'you' are the one traveling to Alpha Centauri, only 2.7 years pass between the time you left Earth and arrived on Alpha Centauri. Gotta love time dilation.

You nailed it. We are explorers...always have been. Going against that, is what is causing so much unrest. We don't have something to focus on as humanity....so we spend our time focusing on ourselves, and that's a bad idea. We are all flawed. Let's get back to exploration, and give humanity hope and something to focus on.

The best thing we can do is work on cryo pods and research more about induced hypothermia. We humans are curious, creative and highly imaginative beings. If only the earth was united as one, we would have long become a type 2 civilisation and would have explored a lot through space.

Thanks for a very interesting, and even inspiring video! I think one thing that people don't take into account (and indeed, doesn't get mentioned often - even by professionals) is the simple and obvious fact that if (or when, as I prefer) we *_do_* make it to some other world with a living crew - whether that world is Proxima b or Mars - living conditions are not going to be favorable! We can only go there (again: wherever *_there_* is) expecting to either stay in orbit - using any available materials from asteroids, comets, etc. - to build larger orbiting platforms such as O'Neil cylinders, *_or_* we're going to have to build closed-off habitats down on the dirt, so to speak - either heavily shielded or domed structures above ground, or dug-in structures underground. Terraforming is *_not_* a light undertaking. If we go there for the long haul, we'll end up building a LOT of infrastructure before we even begin to consider it, as it could easily take millennia to accomplish (if it's even something we can do, really.) So I would deeply and greatly hope that *_all_* aspects of such a venture would be carefully considered - not piecemeal, by this company handling this, and that company dealing with that - but with *_all_* the companies, personnel, astronauts, etc., thinking through every bit of it, and considering every angle. To that end - and I know you may not think this is your 'area' - I truly believe the first long-term, if not permanent, colony we every build should be on the Moon. We've *_all_* got to get this right! The things we learn about living on other worlds - by living on the Moon first - will be nothing less than critical for the future of space travel - at *_any_* speed, and to *_any_* location. Thanks again. tavi.

So let's imagine: You take the Christmas M&M anti-matter matter shove it up the butt of a spaceship. Go to Kepler 452B. Get their in 12.5 years. Upon arriving you discover amazingly some civilization is already there! Surprisingly, over the radio they speak English, knowing your exact mission name and all crew on board. After 300 years on earth, discovery of warp drive technology was made; orders of magnitude faster than light speed without the time dilation. And after 1,500 earth years, already entire colonies are on the planet, terraformed and has a vibrant zoology and colony.

You can get to the Edge of the Universe in 30 years? So if you turned the ship around in, say, 10 years, you could come back and see the Earth several billion years in the future, assuming it still exists then? Mind blown...

Those last words both gave smile and tears

Well done. His conclusion answers a question I've always had: how can we travel beyond this galaxy when millennia would have passed on Earth? This only matters if you want to return to Earth. Multiple Earth-origin exploration civilizations could exist while being unable to have contact across the gulf of time separating them. The solution is simple, we exist independently, ontologically separated by time. So we accept that and say goodbye to Earth. Excellent.

14:42 that awkward moment when you want to give a standing ovation but nobody else is standing so you chicken out.

Just glad someone is thinking along these lines.

I can't believe I'm only just seeing this video now 2 years later, this relates to my book I've wrote, and this ties in with the Fermi paradox, kind of solves it really. But it justifies my book entirely on why we need to survive as a human race, although Ive said in my book we need to travel. We need to sort out earth. In short you are a legend Ryan Weed, and you have explained the Fermi paradox.

1) Like in the book "Tau Zero", you are forgetting that you need to flip around and start decelerating half-way to your final destination or you will simply fly past it very fast. This will probably increase travel time at least 2x and probably 10x (I believe time dilation is exponential). You will probably need some sort of actual shields to protect you from space dust and such in the direction of travel. 2) I believe the best "propulsion" comes from the "Philadelphia Experiment" and "Montauk Project". This is matter/people teleportation. I think I read somewhere that it is actually being used now to place people on the Moon and even Mars almost instantaneously. A ship like this can probably get to Alpha Centauri in days in several hops. In fact, I believe, we have already colonized planets around stars to at least 1000 LY WITHOUT time dilation. Look into it...

Regarding his question at the end of whether we want to be nomads again... I would gladly be a space nomad, so long as I had all the comforts. Or a space viking? It's a nice fantasy.

This will ever remain a dream. One can be happy with the imagination, just that.

we marvel with awe at the builders of ancient buildings & cities which we can't duplicate or replicate yet we seek to travel across the universe. dream on!

Note to self, listen to Mr. Weed.

Great presentation and nice to know that someone is working on this but I can see a problem which does not seem to have been discussed. If you are able to perfect the technology and travel at close to the speed of light, if you hit something the size of a grain of sand, that will be enough to destroy your space ship.

Amazing man what an amazing speech

WOW! On so many levels just wow!

"If we go at 1 g aceel we get there in 3.5 weeks ..." However, did I miss him discuss deceleration? Not only do our theoretical explorers have to factor in decel, but as so many others pointed out, all life support mass and propellant mass would have to be considered. Realistically, there can be no interstellar travel unless/until some means of FTL is discovered and safely applied.

I like how he doesn't mention deceleration... that greatly extends the time required as you have to slow down by aiming your thrusting apparatus in the opposite direction presumably with even more thrust and g forces than the acceleration if you don't want to start deceleration at the halfway point.

Very interesting talk, I enjoyed watching this video.

Wow when you put it like that.. home seems like a good place to be..😎

I'm high, wondering about this question, looked it up, and this guys name is perfect!

Man why is the crowd so dead I would be cheering hard for this guy

Big want. This idea is so awesome and exhilarating

Buenas noches , todo con mucha lógica y muy natural y sobre todo muy interesante la informacion que habla el Sr:Ryan Weed. volver a empezar la vida de nuevo .

I can understand this because I already watched Rick and Morty

12:30 Is the calculation to Alpha Centauri with or without slowing down?

keep exploring sir.

18 y/o from Ireland. Brilliant talk 👏👏👏

I really appreciate the work that you guys are doing, and I understand that when you discussed the time needed to travel to the edge of the observable universe, you just wanted to qualitatively illustrate the vast distances possible to travel at an acceleration of 1 g. But it is actually impossible for us to travel to the edge of the universe even at the speed of light because the universe is expanding at a greater speed because of the presence of dark energy. Just wanted to clarify this so that people do not develop wrong perceptions.

The universe is expanding, even at near light speed travel, mankind can't reach outside the local group. So the example of reaching "the edge of the universe" is a bit strange if he haven't invented a real warp drive :)

Interesting video with a lot of clearly explained physics concepts. Is there any way to find a warp hole or somethin' so we can travel there without the time dilation thing?

Interesting take at the end there...

It is dishonest not to talk about the propellant mass needed for relativistic speeds. Even with antimatter.

So I guess the Star Trek idea is off the table, if you want to boldly go where no one has gone before, it would mean never coming back. Or is anti-matter just not the way to go? Space folding? Artificial wormholes? Instantaneous travel from one point in space to another seems the only way to have interstellar travel and be able to do it without time debts. As a trekkie I'm a bit disappointed.

So a few questions I have about his time/distance numbers: 1) Is he accounting for deceleration? Or just a constant acceleration? Like would the burn be going the whole way or would they flip at halfway or so to begin deceleration? Would it have to be at the halfway point to accommodate the 1g limit? 2) If we're deciding to send people - what about a return journey? 3) Why not just send robots? Wouldn't they have much higher limits on acceptable gravity, what with no squishy bodies and all?

This dude has to back it down a notch. We only just figured out the logistics for overnight shipping about a decade ago.

It is amazing that Elijah Wood found time to focus on space travel after his acting career

I feel bad for the next planet we find to live on..

We explore for survival or profit. Not out of curiosity. Humans like comfort, and repetition. We fear the unknown and tend to be practical. Individuals that stray from the pack, break the mold, make their own way or are driven by curiosity usually don't live long. How can scientists be so romantic when it comes to space travel but so pragmatic about most everything else?

Excellent talk.

An interesting sci fi idea would be: an exploratory vessel was sent out 1,500 years ago to Kepler B. Now it's coming back. Follow the struggles of the crew reintegrating, and the people on Earth in adjusting to what they brought back. Because they met aliens. They shared some technology. But in the meantime, Earth has progressed as well. So now Earth is, say, beyond the concepts of monogamy and gender and sexuality, so it's like the crew are from the 1860's coming back to the 2010's. But they have technology Earth doesn't have, and can create a post-scarcity society. Maybe also throw in there's no such thing as privacy anymore and does the crew want to hand the technology over to an invasive corporate government? Lots of ways to take it.

Given the chance, I would definitely embark on something like that, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, imagine that, being among the first humans in another system, galaxy.. if many worlds are conquered over a timespan, one day humans can become the first (maybe) sentient beings connected by multiple interstellar - planetary communities. That’s a sentence you don’t say everyday lol

This is literally Luxemburg‘s biggest passion and interest - THE SPACE!!!

Well this was an eye opener

It's 2019 and he said it would be about two years for that small satellite to get into orbit. Anyone have any news on how this project is going?

Even if we have anti-matter propellant, how to maintain 1G acceleration when the spaceship's speed reaches near light speed? Wouldn't it take almost infinite amount of energy?

I'd be interested in the details of positron -> fusion reaction (that leads to ultra-hot plasma that can be magnetically directed). Seems he's talking about generating positrons on board. Net energy production would then be only the fusion reaction. Seems a peculiar approach to running a fusion rocket.

10:30 damn ..... I’m ready to go . I’ll volunteer and send as many signals back as possible

I’d volunteer to be sent out, never to return

Interstellar travel might occur without intentionally trying to do so. Primitive man migrated to six of the seven continents on Earth not be intentionally traveling to another continent but by building another village over the next hill. Likewise, if we just build Stanford Torus's, Bernal Sphere's and O'Neill Cylinders out of asteroids and comets then we would migrate to nearby stars without even trying to do so. There would be no issue of being outpaced by faster technology as the habitats you live on would be your destination in the first place and we already know there are interstellar resources as an extrasolar asteroid recently passed through our solar system. One asteroid can build and power a lot of city scale habitats.

I think we will learn to compress space in front of a craft and expand space behind a craft and go much faster than light speed .

Very nice ending, makes me dream!

its 2020.. where's all this stuff today

Two words Mass Ratio

I would and I bet tons of people would be happy to given the right circumstances. Maybe its time for another kind of adapt/ evolve scenario.

I would love to save up for space travel! I would rather see more and experience more so my next generation can see it their lifetime.

I just watched 3 videos about interstellar travel, and in each of them they mentioned a different vehicle as the fastest thing humans have ever created.

7:09 guy be like: "daamn what am I gonna do now?"

Great talk ... the answer is, yes.

Wow this talk went everywhere

80% light speed nuff said

*if everything goes well, we can have the first pictures of Proxima b in 2060, hopefully sooner if something faster than light sails is created or discovered*

Enjoy and take care of this planet. It's our only home and always will be. The sheer numbers and distances is mind boggling to say the least. By the time we have the technology to become "nomads" in outer space we would already be extinct either by wars , climate change or by some other extinction event. You cannot compare being "nomadic" on earth to being a "nomad" out there.There's huge hurdles to overcome.

He’s such a hunk! I understand all the science he’s talking about. I have four degrees. It’s just nice at my age to see a hunky guy helping to educate younger people.

"Do you want to be nomads again?" - The movie Passenger comes to mind

Why does no one ever bring up the fact that it does not matter how fast you travel, you can't travel in a straight line..... eventually you would hit a planet or debris.

*The gentleman did not discuss Dimension Hopping. When we arrived we were being visited a million of years previously. I believe the little saucer things come as cargo in massive mother ships and they are not concerned about travelling at what is called the "speed of light" they travel inter-dimensionally. The little saucer things are for local travel once they get here*

fascinating !

😂😂 the man at 1:58 already knew he was in for a long ridiculous talk

This guy looks like a young Rodney Mckay :)

Exploration is one of life's purpose, it shall be done synergistically while helping people in need here on earth (for example build housing for poor people living in extreme environments, hot or cold, to help perfect housing designs for other planet). To travel light speed we will have to travel as informations in a laser beam which can trigger matter in an other planet to form nanobots which in turn form robots. The next step is then to upload ourselves as informations into them. AI will be us uploading ourselves into avatar robots (transcendance). As for spacetime, I understand it as the perception of it to be relative. Time is based on the rotation of planets, so travelling light speed won't change planetary movements but change our perception of time on earth, which will come back to normal during the return trip.

I like the stats at the end

An hour before I thought I was a serious man. Now I'm watching a guy who's name is Weed talking about interstellar travel to the end of the universe that he believes to be possible by an antimatter drive that he started doing in the office before he moved to the nuclear fallout shelter and he seems to be quite reasonable to me. Should I worry about myself?

Making a lot of antimatter is a fantasy. Travel to the stars is possible only via multi generational ships if those ships can cruise at 5% to 10% the speed of light.

11:48 Dudes strugglin to stay awake, I miss those nodding off days of highschool lol

Try Transubstantiation! That’s the key to faster than light travel, because there is no mass associated with craft and occupants. If you raise the vibration of an object, it disappears, and vice versa. The craft can be made to disappear, then reappear at the chosen destination. Virtually instantly.

So, if we send someone on a near light travel to another star... won't we beat them to it? To them it would take years... but to us, we would have enough time to figure out faster then light travel and get there before they ever do.

Imagine millions years later, all good planets in Milky Way colonized by humans without any space bending stuff. Тraveling faster than light impossible, thus there won't be any interstellar community, All colonies will on their own like separate civilizations with own history and culture. They will only receive messages from other colonies sent. hundreds or thousands years before. And eventually they will forget what planet humans came from or maybe some civilizations will not.

Interstellar travel Sounds cool !!!

I do believe that our dreams will come true. We look at the stars and hope to reach them so our best minds which have ever lived and live now have worked together to build hopefully a future for mankind in interstellar space. Sadly we will not be around to see it.