Warp Drives: Making the 'Impossible' Possible

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By Ian O'Neill | Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:33 PM ET

It's very easy to say that something is "impossible" when talking about technologies that appear to be more at home in science fiction storylines. And when it comes to warp drives -- the staple of Star Trek propulsion systems -- there's no shortage of critics.

Being critical of advanced concepts is no bad thing, however. Indeed, it is a very healthy part of the scientific process, but singling out the impracticalities of faster than light-speed travel could be considered to be a little premature to say the least.

Yesterday, I wrote an article about William Edelstein's concern that a warpship could vaporize when traveling close to the speed of light. Let's face it, it doesn't sound good when a scientist points out that the ambient gas between the stars could turn into "death rays" with as much energy as a beam of protons in the Large Hadron Collider operating at full pelt.

To counter this argument, advanced propulsion expert Richard Obousy is concerned that citing problems with a theoretical futuristic warp drive is a little shortsighted at best. At worst, it could distract from these advanced theories ever being tested.

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http://news.discovery.com/space/warp-drives-making-the-impossible-possible.html