Will it ever be possible to fly to the nearest stars by exploiting the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Effects?

 

In the last fifty years many unexpected developments occured in Physics: especially in the areas of Einstein's Theory of Relativity and in the exploitation of unusual Quantum Effects.
This progress makes us wonder whether it will ever be possible for Humankind to build Starships "Star Trek - like", that is capable of reaching the nearest stellar systems to the Sun at relativistic speeds or even faster than light itself!
Contrary to a widespread belief, the possibility of flying faster-than-light is NOT ruled out by the General Theory of Relativity, but is rather encompassed by it.
In this lecture, we present these recent advances in physics in a way as simple as possible, and yet as close as possible to the mathematics upon which they are based.

1 Workshop: The science, technology and societal aspects of SETI the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence.
SETI, is an international scientific effort intended to receive by radio antennas possible radio messages sent to us by other (Extraterrestrial) Civilizations in the Galaxy.

2 Workshop: Asteroids that might hit the Earth: how can we get rid of them in time ?
Since the discovery (in 1980) that dinosaurs were wiped out by the fall on Earth of a 20-km asteroid or comet, studies have been conducted to find ways of getting rid of them before they collide with the Earth.
At the moment, no general technique for deflecting asteroids appears to be practically feasible.
Deflecting them by missiles shot from the Lagrangian Points L1 and L3 of the Earth-Moon system, however, could be particularly useful.

(summary in german: http://www.pm-magazin.de/de/wissensnews/wn_id171.htm)