“Quomodo undecima dimensio expandatur ac minuatur adhuc non scimus.”
Someone has deduced a possible model for constructing a spacewarp drive, which would, from the point of view of downrange observers, travel faster than the speed of light.
There are (ahem) some technical details to work out. The unintentional humor of this line is priceless:
“Exactly how the 11th dimension would be expanded and shrunk is still unknown.”
If anyone can tell me how to say that in Latin, I will make it my motto beneath my coat of arms when, if ever, I am knighted.
UPDATE: Maureen O’Brien tells me it should perhaps read —
Ars de dilatare minuereque undecim dimensionem adhuc ignotus est.
My escutcheon will, of course, be starship rampant propre on field sable enguled with asters argent, a fessily bend sinister above eleven dimensions enbossed, all engorgeted lambent in warp field d’or; crest: space helm de Discovery Kubrick. Supporters: Houyhnhnm with Vulcan amok.
UPDATED UPDATE: Fabio Barbieri (with a hint from filialucis) tells me it should read —
Quomodo undecima dimensio expandatur ac minuatur adhuc non scimus.
(Naturally, I am waiting for some one who knows about real heraldry to correct my wholly bogus lingo, or ask me why I am putting a metal on a metal. Also, I want a slashed coat behind the shield to show I won my knighthood in battle, but I forget what that is called.)
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
