The idea that it's not possible to reach speeds faster than light with a vehicle or spacecraft is a fundamental concept in modern physics and is based on Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, specifically his special theory of relativity, proposed in 1905. There are several reasons why traveling faster than light (FTL) is considered impossible:
Energy requirements: As an object with mass approaches the speed of light, its energy requirements increase exponentially. To accelerate an object with mass to the speed of light, you would need an infinite amount of energy. This is not achievable with current or foreseeable technology.
Time dilation: As an object's speed approaches the speed of light, time for that object begins to dilate relative to a stationary observer. This means that time would pass more slowly for the moving object compared to the observer. At the speed of light, time dilation would be infinite, and thus reaching the speed of light would take an infinite amount of time from the perspective of an observer on Earth.
Mass increase: According to the theory of relativity, as an object accelerates towards the speed of light, its mass also increases. As a result, it would require even more energy to accelerate the object further. As the speed of light is approached, the mass becomes infinite, making it impossible to reach or exceed that speed.
Causality violation: Special relativity suggests that if an object could travel faster than light, it could potentially travel backward in time, leading to violations of causality and logical paradoxes like the famous "grandfather paradox."
While some theoretical concepts like wormholes and warp drives have been proposed in science fiction as ways to bypass the speed of light limitation, they remain speculative and are not currently supported by any experimental evidence or known physical principles.
there have been no practical demonstrations or scientific breakthroughs that challenge the notion that objects with mass cannot travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. However, it's always important to keep in mind that science is continually advancing, and our understanding of the universe may evolve with time.