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Showing results for tags 'quantum mechanics'.
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I'm putting this under Cosmere discussion, even though it only really pertains to stuff in the Stormlight Archive. First of all, thanks to @Ranryu for reminding me about the weird things spren do, which led to this theory. Brandon has said that all the planets in the Cosmere could one day develop faster than light (FTL) travel, though Scadrial is expected to achieve it first of all. This is really interesting to me. We can see how Scadrial, most likely with some applications of speed bubbles, access to the spiritual realm, and the handy technology of Ettmetal, could achieve this pretty soon. But what always interested me was the other planets. How could worlds like Roshar or Nalthis achieve FTL? Their magic systems don't really have anything that could be used in that way, and it seems incredibly far off. (Sel technically already has it (Aon Tia), they just need to work out some kinks and figure out how to use it offworld. Can't be widely applied at this point.) Now focusing on Roshar. I think, with many of the technological developments that are coming around as we read, it's safe to assume that Rosharan FTL will be fabrial based. And what do you need to power fabrials? Spren. In an interlude in Words of Radiance (I think it's WoR, anyway) we see a pair of ardents conduct some experiments on some flamespren. They find that once you define a specific value for a measurement of the spren, the spren has to stay that value in that specific measurement. This coincides exactly with our current understanding of quantum mechanics: particles exist in a fluid state, in multiple locations or states of being at once, until they're observed. After observation, they're stuck in the position or state they were observed in. I think it's safe to assume that other spren share this attribute, but right now, only flamespren are confirmed to have these strange quantum properties. And, unless I'm remembering wrong, flamespren are the most commonly used spren when creating conjoining fabrials. Conjoined fabrials are very handy, as we see with the Fourth Bridge in Rhythm of War. Using some clever tricks involving Aluminum, a latticework of conjoined fabrials are effectively able to create an airship. This kind of fabrial is probably the future of Rosharan transportation. Now here comes the long shot. My theory is that if a fabrial were to be created that somehow exploited the quantum properties of spren, they would be able to use that "multiple locations at once" function to effectively transport a vehicle using the fabrial to another location faster than the speed of light. I have no idea how you'd do that. You'd probably have to use some kind of trick to amplify very small scale effects to an incredibly large scale, and Aluminum to isolate variables and make sure your spaceship actually appears where you want it to be. It's a long way off, if it's even possible. But Brandon is hinting at something with those flamespren, and it seems likely that it's something along these lines. What do you think? Am I grasping at straws, or am I onto something? Tell me below!
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