Tachyons Are Cosmic Engines of Time Travel

A reactor core gives off the blue glow of Cherenkov radiation — one of the few ways in which a tachyon may be detected.   Image by Argonne National Laboratory.

Interstellar travel is the greatest challenge mankind will ever face. Not only because it’s so grandiose and marked by impressive shimmering spacecraft — tall and boundless, scaled by materials born of human ingenuity — but because it’s a necessary step in exploration and understanding of the cosmos. 

It becomes ever more necessary as time goes on, and ever more difficult. This is the complication we face.

Soon, even speeds approaching that of light may not be enough as our universe continues to expand at an enormous rate. The light of our closest star systems and galaxies will struggle to make their way to us, their existence visible only in our books and our computer programs which will have to remind us that the surrounding sky didn’t always look so empty. 

At lightspeed today travel between star systems would take years for a one-way trip. As much of a feat as luminal speeds are, they may someday prove to be insufficient themselves. But where the speed of light has presented to us an obstruction, so too is there a peculiar hope. There are, after all, two sides to every limit.

A comment Einstein makes in his 1905 paper reads, “…velocities greater than that of light have no possibility of existence.” 

But modern science and mathematics have found clever ways around this, loopholes which permit superluminal speeds without contradicting the theory of relativity.  READ MORE...

Saudi Arabia Will No Longer Use the US Dollar

The first lesson you learn in economics is there are always tradeoffs.

For instance, if your country announces it’s banning gas by 2035 it will force oil-producing countries to scramble in search of new alternative revenue streams.

Enter Saudi Arabia: they are breaking ties with the U.S. dollar and joining the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a massive trade bloc that trades in yuan.

Here’s the score if you aren’t keeping track:

• Crafting connections with China, a superpower rival to the U.S. ✅
• Creating a new financial system away from the dollar ✅

As their Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman recently told associates last year, “[we] are no longer interested in pleasing the United States.”

This is the biggest story of the year.
Was losing U.S. hegemony part of his plan?

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Yes. Of course.

The free ride of the dollar is over. The world can’t sustain it.

Since 1933, the U.S. dollar has lost 92% of its domestic purchasing power. It doesn’t help that almost half of global trade is based on this volatile gumshoes system.

It’s led to events like the British pound flash crashing against the dollar and now fucking the UK economy beyond repair:

• Rampant inflation (10.4%), which the central bank is not controlling
• Daily strikes in the UK as people aren’t getting paid enough
• Real estate is overpriced for mostly everyone forcing them to rent for the rest of their lives

Lost access to the EU economy through Brexit
But it wasn’t just Biden; the entire U.S. financial system — that led to the crashes of 2008, 2020, and 2023 — was ignored by both parties.

Americans think in quarter-long windows and take military and economic supremacy for granted. Countries like Saudi Arabia, India, China, and Russia are looking at the long-term picture, figuring out ways to reduce their reliance on U.S. dollars.

Was it self-sabotage or hubris that got America to its current state?

I don’t know, mate. But we’ve squandered our advantage, and now?  

READ MORE...

Pyramids, Pharaohs, and Secrets

Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped stone constructions located in Egypt. 

The number of objects identified as Egyptian pyramids is about 100. Most of the pyramids were built as tombs for the pharaohs of the ancient and middle kingdoms. The oldest is the Pyramid of Djoser, created by the architect Imhotep between 2667-2488 BC.

Picture from pixabay.com

What are the facts about pyramids?
The most incredible Pyramid in the Giza complex is 147 meters high, with a base side of 230 meters, and took between 20 and 30 years to build. It is located about 25 kilometers southwest of Cairo, Egypt’s capital.

The Great Pyramid, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, has 2.6 million cubic meters and is greater than the two Giza colossi, the pyramids of Menkaure and Khafre. All of the pyramids are said to have been coated with gleaming limestone at one point, but this has since been removed and reused in various construction projects throughout the millennia.

Each Pyramid at Giza is part of a larger complex that includes a tomb temple and a network of interconnected pathways. The monuments are essentially the last resting sites of Egypt’s famous pharaohs.  READ MORE...

Getting In Touch With Women Technologists

Dropboxers love a lot of things: posting pictures of their pets, bonding over coffee, helping each other protect their mental health, solving complicated tech puzzles, and everything in between. 

But one of the things they love most is showing up, making connections, and even recruiting new Dropboxers at tech conferences across the U.S. — or more recently, virtually from their homes!

One of the biggest conferences we attend each year is the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC for short) — the world’s largest gathering of women technologists, where women from around the world learn, network, and celebrate their achievements. 

During the four-day event, attendees have nearly limitless opportunities to connect with one another.

One standout part of the conference is the Career Fair, during which attendees can swing by the virtual booths of various companies to meet employees and explore job opportunities. 

During the course of the conference, we had over 800 individuals “check in” at our Dropbox booth! We never had less than 10 people present at our virtual booth at a time, getting to know each other through chat messages or video.  READ MORE...