Can a warp drive realistically be built?

Question

If so, how many decades are we from building one?

Answer 1

The "warp drive" was invented as a literary device to overcome the tedium of travelling between solar systems, on the order of multiple lifetimes. With our current understanding, nothing can be done to overcome that problem. Even if we were to find a way to provide the tremendous energy needed for acceleration, it would still take forever. And the speed of light cannot be reached in normal space.

"Normal space." That's the trick. If we could find our way into some sort of "abnormal space", we might find a shorter path to our destination. But could we navigate it? How would we move in it? How do we get into it? Does it even really exist?

The literary solution is to invent a really powerful energy source that can "warp" anything inside it into 4th dimensional space. And what's more powerful than an a matter/anti-matter collision? But where do you get the anti-matter? "Make" it? Find it? And how do you keep it away from matter before you use it? The only "force fields" we've been able to generate so far are magnetic and they have very specific properties.

So, assuming you've been able to create a suitable, fail-safe force field container, and a system that combines matter and anti-matter (or whatever) to produce enough energy to "warp" into this new dimension with a control system that enables you to orientate and move in a predictable manner to another location where you can turn the effect off again-- well, that's a whole lot of assumptions. We don't have the theory for any of that yet, much less the engineering.

In the entire history of humanity, the idea of seriously going into outer space has been around less than a hundred years. The first artificial satellite orbited only 50 years ago. We can't practically send manned flights past the moon even now. But we're impatient to check out those planets we've detected orbiting other stars.

The original "Star Trek" was set in the 23rd Century, because it's conceivable we'll have the half-dozen theoretical breakthroughs we'd need by then. And it's still a reasonable target. But no one can put scientific discovery on a schedule. No matter how close we feel we're getting, a breakthrough doesn't exist until it happens, and speculating can't make it so. We may find a completely different solution, or none at all. So the answers are, "Not so far", and "We have no way of knowing."

Answer 2

Probably not in this century. When you are taking about WARP you are talking about actually being able to warp the diminsions of space around your location. This would only be possible with greater amounts of energy than we can currently create.

If you are interested in this check out Dr Michio Kaku's website below. This is the guy you should ask.

Answer 3

There doesn't seem to be any loopholes in the mathematics related to the speed of light for warp drives. On the other hand we humans do SO MANY things that have never, nor can ever, occur in nature that I would not be too surprised if it can be done eventually... probably in our lifetimes with the help of our servent the computer.

Answer 4

I think NASA started a program to research warp drive capabilities but it was discontinued in 2002.

We are still trying to figure something out, and I think that it is possible someday (when I say someday, I mean a looooong time from now :) ) We would actually devise a system that would actually curve (or warp) spacetime so we could sail right through. Now that would be cool.

Answer 5

I read of "experiments" using high energy resonance fields affecting atoms of Bismuth. The fields cause the Bismuth atoms to rotate at very high speeds, causing a warping of time, as well as negating the effects of gravity. Its mainly UFO buff talk though, so as to how true it is. Bismuth is a very odd metal though, its very dense, a heavy metal, but very low in toxicity, and has very odd electro magnettic properties. Below Bismuth is Elusive Ununpentium, Element 115 what buffs claim UFO's use, an element that so far on earth can only be made an atom or two at a time, and quickly decays in miliseconds, but Bismuth with similar warping abilities, just not as good as 115, being Bismuth is not as super dense. But being its quite abundent on earth, a Bismuth warp drive is better than no warpdrive at all. Even if its true about Bismuths ability, it would require huge amounts of energy to warp an area of timespace around a craft to travel intersteller distances. Just to accelerate afew grams worth of Bismuth to the timewarping speeds required exceeds all energy output on earth. So unles we discover how to harness the power of black holes. Although mathamaticlly feasable, energy is the problem.

Answer 6

Not given our current understanding of physics. It appears that we would first have to discover something called "negative energy", or some form of exotic & new form of matter, and somehow figure out how to generate and control it (assuming that it even exists). It would also require something like the mass-energy content of an entire star to transport a small spaceship across the Milky Way galaxy.

Answer 7

Take thousands of years I think. We can't even fully understand black hole mechanism. I don't think we will be able to create energy to sustain a warp drive for a long long time.

Answer 8

Not at the current point in time.

You have to make worm holes or fold space to really acheive it.

Answer 9

No, ~Nyuk!~. That's only in science fiction, like Star Trek.
Never happen in the near future, if ever.

Answer 10

I'm still working on the flux capacitor,I think it will take a while yet,don't hold your breath!