forget string theory...here's rope theory

[badgerchap]

By "theoretically" you mean "if special relativity is wrong", or else by "quick time" you mean "less than light speed" - in which case a light beam is quicker and a lot easier.

But ponder this. Let's say you've got a rope between here and the Virgo cluster, attached to suitable points at either end. The cluster is receding from us due to Hubble expansion - so does this mean that the rope will undergo increasing tension? And could the resulting energy be used? Let's ignore the actual speed involved and assume it's an extremely stretchy rope (able to extend by millions of miles per second!). The point is that it's usually said that cosmic expansion is experienced only by things that are not physically bound - the solar system and our own bodies don't expand, and there isn't expansion between our Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy, because their gravity is strong enough to eliminate the effect. So what about a rope? Seems a bit of a paradox.

(The relevant maths this time is the Friedmann equations - but they assume homogeneity. Hence I don't think anyone really knows the answer to this one).

Andrew

In my experience, rope is stronger than the gravity that keeps the moon rooted to the earth, earth rooted to the sun etc. Although if I'm honest, I wouldn't fancy swapping gravity for rope. So if a rope was strong enough not to break under the full force of the virgo cluster, surely it would cause us and the cluster to become tethered, thus preventing the effects of expansion?

I dunno, I'm just a man who likes rope!

[DarkStar7]

Let's hope all the photons don't get entangled... Oops Oh I think they have. Lol

[Uranium235]

Just a thought...

But wouldnt having a rope/rod that stretches all the way to andromeda mean that youre already there by virtue of your physical presence? (ie: the rod is an extention of your arm) And therefore any movement would seem instant anyway.

The only way you would be able to send information is by poking out a morse code message