> If any sort of mechanism could exist for circumventing the limitations of conventional travel through spacetime — limitations set by the speed of light — it must involve leveraging the curvature of spacetime to create such a “short-cut” between two otherwise disconnected points. Perhaps the most famous instance in all of fiction to leverage this was the idea of “warp drive” as developed by the Star Trek franchise.
Did Star Trek actually originate the warp drive idea? I always assumed some scientist somewhere originated it first, then the ST writers picked up on it and used it in their world-building. But kind of mind-blowing if it was the ST writers who originally conceived it.
> By expending a vast amount of energy, the idea was that space could be severely curved, and in some sense, compressed. As the space ship moved through the compressed space, it would take this long-sought-after short-cut, enabling very rapid travel over great distances, without causing the outside Universe to age rapidly relative to the crew.
There are conflicting conceptions of warp drive accelerating time outside the warp bubble (or decelerating it inside the bubble). Star Trek’s warp drives obviously don’t accelerate external time (or slow internal time). But in Cixin Lui’s Three Body Series, curvature propulsion (aka warp drive) does slow internal warp bubble time. Which is correct?
Did Star Trek actually originate the warp drive idea? I always assumed some scientist somewhere originated it first, then the ST writers picked up on it and used it in their world-building. But kind of mind-blowing if it was the ST writers who originally conceived it.
> By expending a vast amount of energy, the idea was that space could be severely curved, and in some sense, compressed. As the space ship moved through the compressed space, it would take this long-sought-after short-cut, enabling very rapid travel over great distances, without causing the outside Universe to age rapidly relative to the crew.
There are conflicting conceptions of warp drive accelerating time outside the warp bubble (or decelerating it inside the bubble). Star Trek’s warp drives obviously don’t accelerate external time (or slow internal time). But in Cixin Lui’s Three Body Series, curvature propulsion (aka warp drive) does slow internal warp bubble time. Which is correct?