A companion to Spacetime Elasticity, proposing that mass itself has elastic properties—that mass can be stretched, compressed, or transformed in ways that enable novel technologies and travel methods. Mass Elasticity suggests that inertia, gravity, and mass-energy equivalence are not fixed but can be modulated through fields or spacetime engineering. This could enable "mass cancellation" for propulsion, variable inertia for spacecraft, or even mass redistribution for gravitational control. The theory goes hand in hand with Preserved Causality and Spacetime Elasticity, forming a triad of concepts that together make interstellar civilization plausible.
"The ship's mass field fluctuated as we approached the warp threshold—not increasing with velocity, but redistributing across spacetime. Theory of Mass Elasticity explains it: mass isn't fixed; it's responsive to spacetime curvature. We didn't get heavier; we got stretchier."
by Nammugal March 4, 2026
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