Wesley Clark, one of the candidates competing for the position of the Democratic Party's candidate for the US presidency in the 2004 elections, claims that science can be bent at the disposal of politicians, although physicists claim that this is impossible
A US presidential candidate promises to travel faster than light
Wesley Clark, retired four-star general of the US Army and commander of NATO. future
During his campaign in New Hampshire, Clark, the new candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, gave his supporters a first glimpse of his views on technology.
"We need a vision to see how we move humanity forward, and then we'll have to harness science to do that." Clark told a group of 50 people at a house circle in New Castle - a tradition among presidential candidates who start their campaign in the state of New Hampshire and invite selected voters.
Davis, 58, a native of Arkansas who retired from military service three years ago, suddenly dropped a bombshell at the meeting. "I still believe in the formula E equals M multiplied by C squared, but I cannot believe that in the entire lifetime of the human race we will never be able to exceed the speed of light and reach where we want. I tend to believe that humans can do it.”
"I argued with physicists about it, I argued with my best friends about it. I have to believe that. It's a faith-based initiative." Clark's comment provoked bursts of laughter and applause from the participants.
Gary Melnick, a senior astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said that Clark's belief in the possibility of FTL was based more on his imagination than on physics.
While Clark's belief may be bolstered by his knowledge of complex military projects, there is no evidence that the human race can go beyond the speed of light, Melnick says. In fact, there is strong evidence that faster-than-light flight is impossible, he said.
"Even if Clark is elected president, I doubt he will be able to overcome the forces of physics," said Melnick, whose research focuses on interstellar clouds and the formation of stars and planets.
Einstein's special theory of relativity says that time slows down when an object reaches the speed of light. Some scientists say that flying faster than the speed of light actually means time travel, or the ability to move into the future and the past.
Clark's comment about flying at a speed higher than the speed of light came at the end of a long answer to the question of his opinion and vision regarding NASA and the American space program as a whole. Clark told his supporters that he supports the agency and believes that "America needs a dream and a space program."
But Clark said that the nation must prioritize technological goals that will give a realistic approach according to the resources and talents of its people.
"Achieving some of the goals may take generations," he said. "We need to set these goals now. We need to rededicate ourselves to science, engineering and technology in this country."
Clark was helped by his trip to New Hampshire, which is the first state where primaries will be held to select the candidates of both parties for the presidency - to prove that he has not forgotten his activities on the Internet - in which the voters can find out what his views are on a variety of issues. "American politics must change in the age of the internet and fast communication with people who really care about what's going on around them." Clark told his supporters at the conference.
