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

Meet a true explorer who might lead humanity to make interstellar travel a reality by developing the world’s first antimatter rocket. Through his fascinating speech at TEDxDanubia, you will have an understanding on how positrons meet electrons to reach an energy level to travel faster and farther than you could ever imagine.

The 31‐year‐old Air Force pilot is Co‐founder and CEO of Positron Dynamics, the company that is pioneering the use of antimatter in space propulsion. He has a BA degree in Physics from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, a BSc in Engineering & Applied Physics from Columbia University, New York, a PhD
from the Centre of Excellence in Antimatter Matter Studies at the Australian National University and is one of 13 fellows at WIRED 2015 Innovation Fellowships recognized for his work in antimatter propulsion.

[dattatreyapujar]

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

[theCodyReeder]

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

[geoffreyreeks]

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

[SuperRambo]

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.

[javkhlanbaatarkhuu]

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.

[nneerraajj]

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

[petyrkowalski]

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.

[scanjett]

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?

[thelonecabbage]

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

[kellybreslin]

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

[goatpixel]

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

[catsinq]

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

[robertmuldrow]

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.

[danievdw]

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.

[filmcale]

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.

[urazsoktay]

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.

[jmitterii]

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.

[richarddeese]

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.

[amanbansal]

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.

[memels]

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!