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relativity

relativity published on No Comments on relativity

look at me, actually drawing launch towers properly for once.

plugging some quick numbers into wolfram alpha, the energy required to propel a 100 metric tonne ship to 99% the speed of light is roughly 5.472×10^22 joules. this is equivalent to 1/9th the energy of the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, or 225,000x the energy of the tsar bomba, the largest nuclear bomb in history. and that’s not even to mention the energy required to stop, come back, and stop again.

which is to say, sedna’s being a little optimistic in her dream here.

Transcripts

narration: commander sedna boards her new interstellar light-speed spaceship.

narration: she flies to barnard’s star and back at just under the speed of light. because of relativity, 12 years have passed on earth, but to sedna, almost no time has passed at all.

narration: still in the body of an 8-year-old, sedna is legally a 20-year-old adult. suddenly she can vote, get married, and she doesn’t have to go to-

sedna’s dad: school, sedna! get up!
sedna: i was having such a good dream…

Webcomic Transcript Authorsthomas

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