A tachyon is a hypothetical subatomic particle that always travels faster than the speed of light. Most scientists believe that tachyons do not exist. One of the main reasons for this belief is that a tachyon with zero energy should move at an infinite velocity.

If tachyons do exist they must have a mass that is equal to an imaginary number. Because of this property under Einstein's theory of specal relativity a tachyon would give off energy as it moves faster. Slowing a tachyon down to the speed of light would require an infinite amount of energy. This is why tachyons always move faster than light.

In fiction tachyons are almost always used for faster than light communication such as an ansible. However, due to tachyons giving off energy as they accelerate I believe that it is more likely that humanity would use tachyons as an energy source rather than communication if tachyons are ever proven to exist.

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