Scientists say intergalactic space travel from Star Wars could become a reality within the next century

The theory of warp drives was developed in 1994 by Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre. Instead of traveling through space, he proposed that a spacecraft could warp space itself by contracting space-time in front of it and expanding it in the back. This mechanism creates a “warp bubble” that allows the spacecraft to travel faster than light without violating any laws of physics.

The concept is based on a flaw in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein's 1905 theory stated that no object with mass can travel faster than the speed of light, because as it accelerates, it becomes more massive and requires more and more energy to continue moving. At the speed of light, mass approaches infinity, making further acceleration impossible. However, if space-time could be warped, the ship would not need to accelerate itself and could still travel at superluminal speeds.

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NASA is actively pursuing this idea. NASA physicist Harold “Sonny” White, who leads the research team at NASA, has built a special device called the White-Juday Warp Field Interferometer. This device uses light beams to detect tiny distortions in space-time – an important first step toward realizing a warp drive.

While current technology cannot yet take humans across galaxies, many experts believe it is only a matter of time. “A warp drive is a hypothetical system that would allow a spacecraft to get from point A to point B by warping space-time,” explains Dr Katy Clough, a cosmologist at Queen Mary University of London. Unlike traditional rockets that burn and propel fuel to accelerate, a warp drive would simply compress space-time in front of the craft and expand it behind it, allowing the craft to travel without the need for extreme speeds, she says.

According to Clough, the mechanism is similar to the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars: “The ship remains in a flat region of space-time at the center of the warp bubble and moves with this bubble.” Although it may sound futuristic, the concept that space and time can be warped is a core part of Einstein’s general theory of relativity – a foundation of physics that has been tested for more than a century.

Professor Tim Dietrich, an expert in gravity physics at the University of Potsdam (Germany), also expressed optimism: “The appeal of the warp drive is that it can help you move between two points almost instantly. Theoretically, it opens up the possibility of intergalactic travel like in science fiction movies.”

With the progress being made, scientists believe that the dream of reaching out to other galaxies – from the Starship Enterprise to the Millennium Falcon – may not be far-fetched in the next century.

Bao Ngoc (t/h)

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/cong-nghe/cac-nha-khoa-hoc-cho-biet-du-hanh-vu-tru-giua-cac-thien-ha-trong-phim-star-wars-co-the-tro-thanh-hien-thuc-vao-the-ky-toi/20250513053754962