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According to our current understanding of physics, it is not possible for an object with mass to travel at or exceed the speed of light in a vacuum, as described by Einstein's theory of special relativity. The theory predicts that as an object with mass approaches the speed of light, its energy would become infinite, which is not consistent with our understanding of the physical world.

Einstein's theory of special relativity sets a cosmic speed limit: the speed of light in a vacuum, denoted by "c," which is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second. According to this theory, as an object with mass accelerates, its energy increases, and its mass also appears to increase. The closer the object's speed gets to the speed of light, the more its mass and energy increase, requiring an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it further. This phenomenon is known as relativistic mass increase.

Moreover, time dilation and length contraction occur as objects approach the speed of light, resulting in a variety of unusual effects. For example, time would appear to slow down for the object in motion relative to an observer at rest, and the object would appear shorter in the direction of its motion.

While there have been speculative ideas and theories proposed, such as wormholes or hypothetical particles called tachyons that could travel faster than light, these are currently purely theoretical and have not been observed or proven to exist.

It is important to note that the theory of special relativity has been extensively tested and verified through various experiments and observations. To date, there is no experimental evidence supporting the notion that objects with mass can travel faster than light without violating our current understanding of physics.

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