In a paper published in 1994, Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre showed theoretically that an FTL warp drive could work within the laws of physics. They are realistic and physical, which had not been the case in the past. Two new recently published, peer-reviewed scientific papers show that real warp drive designs based on real physics may be possible. Warp drives serve to circumvent this limitation in fiction to facilitate stories set at galactic scales. The problem of a material object exceeding light speed is that an infinite amount of kinetic energy would be required to travel at exactly the speed of light. Campbell in his 1957 novel Islands of Space.Įinstein’s theory of special relativity states that speed of light travel is impossible for material objects that, unlike photons, have a non-zero rest mass.

The general concept of “warp drive” was introduced by John W.

In contrast to hyperspace, spacecraft at warp velocity would continue to interact with objects in “normal space”. In contrast to some other fictitious faster-than-light technologies such as a jump drive, the warp drive does not permit instantaneous travel and transfers between two points, but rather involves a measurable passage of time which is pertinent to the concept. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at speeds greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude. REAL Warp Drives? NEW research proposes a solution! What Is Warp drive ?Ī warp drive is a fictional superluminal spacecraft propulsion system in many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek, and a subject of ongoing physics research.

Real warp drive ship gif