Jake Young is a 
I am not even close to qualified enough to critique this paper, but I did find it interesting. The authors speculate about how you could create a warp drive -- an engine for faster than light travel -- by creating a bubble of expansion and contraction in spacetime. They speculate that an advanced enough civilization could in theory do so.
However, I was particularly struck by this sentence:
Assuming some arbitrarily advanced civilization were able to create such an effect we might postulate that this civilization were able to utilize the most efficient method of energy production - matter antimatter annihilation. Using E = mc^2 this warp bubble would require around 10^28Kg of antimatter to generate, roughly the mass-energy of the planet Jupiter.
Bummer.
You know it is tough traveling between the stars when every time you want to do it you have to come up with a lump of antimatter the size of a planet. That alone might put the kiebash on this whole business.
Hat-tip: Chad
Physical Science
Comments
All you need are Dilithium crystals.
It's amazing how on target Gene Rodenberry and his staff of writers were regarding technology.
Posted by: Tony P | December 13, 2007 2:12 PM
Two planets: you need the anti-Jupiter plus a regular Jupiter.
Posted by: dave X | December 13, 2007 2:30 PM
It may not be eco-friendly, but look at the maximum speed: 10^32 times the speed of light! Cross the entirety of the known universe in 10^-15 seconds!
Posted by: andy | December 14, 2007 6:56 AM
What's the secret of a successful trip? Planet!
Posted by: Ian | December 14, 2007 7:00 AM
Well, obviously. We learn from Futurama that one pound of anti-matter weighs 10,000 pounds, so this is no surprise.
Posted by: MatrixFrog | December 18, 2007 3:03 AM