system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why can't we accelerate something to beyond the speed of light?

I have actually studied 5 years of physics at uni but never gotten this explained in a comprehensive way.
gpt
"Beyond the speed of light" does not exist. As a reference frame asymptotically approaches the speed of light, its spatial dimension in the direction of motion approaches zero width, and its time slows towards being stopped, relative to the stationary observer. A reference frame with zero width and no time elapsing is not a reference frame. Therefore, there are no valid reference frames exactly at speed c or above. Space and time simply don't exist faster than the speed of light. In fact, the phrase "faster than the speed of light" is meaningless. Speed is defined as the distance in space traveled over the time elapsed. Without time or space existing above c, the concept of speed itself does not exist above c.

Another point worth considering is that relativistic energy is nonlinear. The closer you get to c, the more energy it takes to accelerate one more increment. It takes an infinite amount of energy to accelerate to exactly the speed of light.