14
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Can data be sent using Gravitational Waves across solar systems?
Frankly no. The idea of using gravitational waves as a medium of communications isn't bad of itself. At first glance, it does look like a good idea. The real problems are with transmitting and ...
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10
votes
Accepted
Seeing Using Gravitational Waves
The strain, $h$, of a gravitational wave is
$$h\sim\frac{1}{R}\frac{GM}{c^2}\left(\frac{v}{c}\right)^2$$
to a relatively decent degree of accuracy. Here, $R$ is the distance to the source, $M$ is the ...
- 102k
7
votes
How would an active Alcubierre Drive effect the shape of an ship's explosion?
The Alcubierre metric consists of two causally isolated regions of space: the inside of the bubble, and the outside. Within each region, space behaves as you would expect for normal relativity, only ...
- 1,255
7
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How to weaponize gravitational waves
If you wish to cause a human to be thrown in any direction with this technology, you will need to summon up the mass of an Earth. That is not sanitary, as the collateral damage will be the planet as a ...
- 142k
6
votes
Accepted
Gravitational observatories vs. teleporting aliens
The answer to this question resolves itself into two parts. First, whether a spaceship exiting hyperspace will be a source of gravitational waves. Second, whether gravitational wave detectors can ...
- 38.5k
6
votes
Gravitational observatories vs. teleporting aliens
Well this isn't really a question anyone can answer, as we don't know what "hyperspace" is and hence we have no idea what the gravitational effect of something suddenly popping into real space from ...
- 23.3k
6
votes
How to weaponize gravitational waves
Massive amounts of unobtanium, handwavium, and pure old magic.
Gravity is a force with a very small local effect, but very large effective range. That is, if you grab your typical magnet and lift a ...
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5
votes
Possible methods to convert gravitational waves into storable energy?
Ok gravitational wave season, say it persists for 2 weeks, energy can be harvested for 2 weeks..
How much you'd get
Depend how far away you are, of course.. these waves have huge energies, but after ...
- 14.9k
5
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Accepted
What would the gravitational wave signature of an Alcubierre drive look like?
Alcubierre's solution to the Einstein field equations (Alcubierre 1994) gives us a metric - an expression describing how spacetime curves - of the form
$$ds^2=-dt^2+(dx - v_s(t)f(r_s)dt)^2+dy^2+dz^2$$
...
- 102k
5
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Would the gravitational waves from a binary black hole system make a feasible weapon?
No, this would not be a feasible weapon.
Although I originally posted an answer to this question five years ago, I've since deleted it and am starting anew. One reason I deleted it is that the answer ...
- 102k
5
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Can data be sent using Gravitational Waves across solar systems?
In principle the answer to your question is YES. We have a wave travelling at speed of light which is not absorbed by the medium (so no dust clouds inbetween like for the visible light).
However, we ...
- 301k
4
votes
Can data be sent using Gravitational Waves across solar systems?
In order to effectively transmit information and prevent data loss, interference must be kept to a minimum.
In other words, all other sources of gravitational waves must be either disabled or ...
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3
votes
Accepted
How to weaponize gravitational waves
Balance
A small, constant wave could be used to knock someone off balance. If they're crossing a bridge or atop a ladder or the roof of their house at the time, that could kill them.
Cardiac ...
- 132k
2
votes
Seeing Using Gravitational Waves
Is it plausible for a species to biologically detect gravitational waves?
Basically, no. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of the most high precision technology ...
- 38.5k
2
votes
Gravitational observatories vs. teleporting aliens
In the service of the story being told by the OP: Don't worry about the gravitational wave, just detect the gravity. See this map of the highly inconsistent gravity field on the surface of the Earth.
...
- 34.8k
2
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What would the gravitational wave signature of an Alcubierre drive look like?
Your best answer would be to look Dr Alcubierre's original paper or summaries of it to get a description of how 'space' is curved before and behind a ship using this drive (it's not a gate). The drive ...
- 18.8k
2
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How to weaponize gravitational waves
The key way to cause damage with gravity will be tidal forces. These are strongest in regions where the gravity gradient is steepest. This doesn't necessarily mean where gravity is strongest; larger ...
- 14.4k
2
votes
How to weaponize gravitational waves
Think outside the metric. Directly hitting the opposition with gravity waves might be less useful than other easy possibilities. What you want to do is distort things in a way that causes problems.
...
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2
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Can data be sent using Gravitational Waves across solar systems?
I’ve seen articles about a scientist who endeavors to build such a device, and got funding to try building stuff with the goal of communications. I tracked down the underlying paper: arXiv:gr-qc/...
- 69.8k
2
votes
When does a gravitational wave beam become dangerous?
I found this relevant Physics StackExchange answer from a few years ago, which references the paper Seismic Response of the Earth to a Gravitational Wave in the 1-Hz Band. Now, you can dump a lot of ...
- 42.7k
2
votes
How would an active Alcubierre Drive effect the shape of an ship's explosion?
No effect at all
You have defined an engine that is "a reactionless propulsion system" and then asked what the reaction of the propelled explosion particles will be. All the forces of ...
- 8,209
1
vote
Possible methods to convert gravitational waves into storable energy?
Guiding the collapse of a binary Black hole:
I will open with the fact that I am not a physicist and am shamelessly raiding Wikipedia for material. Since this is somewhat uninformed, I post it here ...
- 64.4k
1
vote
Possible methods to convert gravitational waves into storable energy?
This is a good question, and a difficult task.
Part of the problem is that most objects in the universe are effectively transparent to gravitational waves - they don't really absorb or scatter them, ...
- 102k
1
vote
Can data be sent using Gravitational Waves across solar systems?
One of the things not mentioned by other posts is that waves travel at different speeds depending on their frequency (whaaaat!): (So we know the speed of light is fixed right, but in reality it's not ...
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1
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Can data be sent using Gravitational Waves across solar systems?
Yes we could but it would be cheaper to not.
Detecting the wave is pretty easy - just bounce a laser for 2 miles.
What would be the problem is how to generate waves.
What LIGO and VIRGO detected was 1,...
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