This is neat: The idea behind the Picard maneuver comes from the way a faster-than-light spaceship would outrun its ...

This is neat: The idea behind the Picard maneuver comes from the way a faster-than-light spaceship would outrun its own light. If the spaceship were going at a constant, faster-than-light speed, then another ship at rest would see two images, corresponding to two different times when light from the ship could reach them. […] While the details were wrong, [Brazilian physicist Níckolas] de Aguiar Alves was impressed that the episode reproduced the core textbook idea mostly accurately. “The main thing they got perfectly, and I think it is a great illustration.” You can read the full paper on Arxiv. Time to watch The Next Generation again. 🔗 arstechnica.com