Park Shift Theory
The Park Shift, first introduced in the book Ender's Game, is a theory in which a spaceship or object traveling at the speed of light, can instantly, or near instantly, slow to a stop. This is used when a spaceship meets with another and connects, or if a spaceship is nearing its final destination. An otherwise impossible feat, since the inertia would propel the object much farther than the intended target. In doing so, the ship in question would have to exit light speed which would cause time to revert to relativistic speeds. Since travel at light speed, or near light speed, would cause a time dilation effect, the time in travel would make a near second take weeks or months in correlation with the rest of space. The scientists of the series do not know how the Park Shift actually works, and it seems to have been discovered accidentally, and used ever since.
Read more about this topic: Concepts In The Ender's Game Series
Famous quotes containing the words park, shift and/or theory:
“Mrs. Mirvan says we are not to walk in [St. James’s] Park again next Sunday ... because there is better company in Kensington Gardens; but really, if you had seen how every body was dressed, you would not think that possible.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)
“There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in travelling in a stage- coach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place.”
—Washington Irving (1783–1859)
“By the “mud-sill” theory it is assumed that labor and education are incompatible; and any practical combination of them impossible. According to that theory, a blind horse upon a tread-mill, is a perfect illustration of what a laborer should be—all the better for being blind, that he could not tread out of place, or kick understandingly.... Free labor insists on universal education.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)