Can we communicate as speeds greater than that of light?

Question

Lets say you have two ships in space, that's facing opposite directions while being connected with a lightweight, perfectly rigid rod.

If they exert the exact same force in opposite directions, the ships and the pole would remain perfectly still, right?

So if the connector at the one ship was to release the pole, would the other ship not begin to move instantaneously (considering that the pole is lightweight), and thus mean that communication happened at speeds greater than c?

(assuming that the pole can not contract / stretch)

? · Accepted Answer

can't be possible bcoz the disturbance that will travel along the rod will have speed much less than velocity of light because if the disturbance is travelling with the speed of light then the particles of the rod will be in vibratory motion greater than speed then by mass velocity relation
m=m/(1-v^2/c^2)^1/2 will give mass infinite that is contradictory as assume that rod is light weight...

Anonymous · Answer

You can assume anything to come up with the result you want. In the real world, communication through a rod happens at the speed of sound in that material, which is a lot slower than the speed of light. Here is a nice essay explaining how c is a property of space: 

http://www.whale.to/b/smith_sj_h.html Scroll down to "Physics Of Space/Time"

? · Answer

no. because a real pole has a mass and if you move a mass it will contract in space time .
In the limit the thinnest massless pole would be a light beam and you know light cannot go faster than the speed of light!

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Can we communicate as speeds greater than that of light?

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