Bending the fabric of space-time has been a dream for science.
Over the past century, physicists have been working diligently to develop theories that explain the deepest mysteries about the cosmos. Every single person on the planet has been influenced in one way or another by the advancement of our scientific knowledge.
How would you feel if science were able to warp the very fabric of space-time?
How our boldest sci-fi dreams are finally entering the lab
The line between the silver screen and the lab of life is getting very blurry indeed.
In the iconic science fiction show Star Trek, they had a handheld device that could diagnose diseases at the drop of a hat, among other things. Today, we have FDA-approved smartphone apps that can detect skin cancer or even monitor heart rhythms.
Some science fiction was so close to reality that it’s scary to think about.
Jules Verne wrote From Earth to the Moon in 1865. In it, he theorized that a space capsule made from aluminum would be launched from Florida. He also predicted, correctly, we might add, that the people in the capsule would experience weightlessness.
Sending energy through space may be possible in the not-too-distant future
Most of us have heard of the “warp drive” dream from the multitude of shows and films over the years. But it has remained in the minds of scientists for decades.
Teams of physicists have been turning their attention to the molecular world of energy particles to better understand power and how we might improve the way we generate the power needed for everyday life.
They have recently made a remarkable finding that may change the way solar panels are constructed.
Our collective scientific progression has led some researchers down the path of studying the origins of our species to better understand the future of mankind. The world needs vast amounts of energy, and through the efforts of many, many scientists and experts, we know that the market is changing.
Technology that is based on films and our dreams is coming to light.
A research paper, “Introducing physical warp drives” in IOP Science, has drawn inspiration from Star Trek and other films to develop the latest in energy technology that can bring the dream of warp drives to reality.
A team of scientists has put the “physical” in physical warp drive
Alexey Bobrick and Gianni Martire authored the aforementioned paper that reached a major mathematical breakthrough.
The first “warp drive”, that is, the Alcubierre Drive from 1994, had a major hiccup; it needed “exotic matter” with a negative mass to work. And since nobody had actually seen negative mass, the concept was relegated to the “idea bin”. But developing tech based on sci-fi has become a reality in recent years.
The pair of scientists had a eureka moment when they realized that a warp drive is actually a shell of regular ol’ material.
Like a very heavy spacecraft that is moving at a specific speed through space. They have found that if you make a warp bubble flatter and wider, you can dramatically reduce the energy needed to make it work.
Don’t pack your space luggage and plan a trip to the cosmos just yet
While the pair of eggheads have real-world materials to construct the physical warp drive, they are limited to subluminal speeds, which is slower than the speed of light. So while astronomers are searching the cosmos and finding sounds from other worlds, this development may make getting there slightly easier.
To go faster than the speed of light, they still need to find that tricky “exotic matter,” but even the “slow warp drive” they have created could drastically reduce the time it takes to send energy, or even us across vast distances.
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