Good news everybody, it’s looking more and more like warp drives are a feasible method of faster than light space travel. The bad news is that coming out of the warp bubble will release enough energy in the form of gamma radiation to destroy the destination you were seeking.

This theory dates back to 1994 but recently researchers at University of Sydney have shown what will happen to matter entering and exiting the warp bubble. You can find their analysis here.

Basically the problem with space travel is everything is really far apart. And according to Einstein’s theory of special relativity nothing is able to move faster than the speed of light. So to consider that Alpha Centauri, our nearest star besides our own, is nearly five light years away, that means it’ll take at least that many years (not taking into account time for acceleration and deceleration) for a ship traveling at light speed to reach it. Enter the concept of the Alcubierre Drive.

In this theory a ship will never actually need to travel faster than the speed of light. Instead a bubble of condensed space-time will encompass the ship, compressing space in front of it and expanding it behind. This bending of space-time basically allows for a cosmic shortcut without breaking the cosmic speed limit. Where the problem comes in is that while space is relatively empty, it’s not completely empty. Any matter that is traveling towards the ship will become time locked inside the warp bubble. As the ship decelerates, these objects will be flung from the bubble giving off huge amounts of energy. The more matter expelled, the more energy is given off, theoretically enough to cause major problems for the planet being traveled to. And there is no real upper limit, the more matter collected means the more matter expelled.

While it is true that this is a very real problem, the thing I most take out of it is that it’s better to be the person traveling the stars rather than the idiot on Earth just waiting to get nuked by the careless adventurers. Luckily we have not yet mastered the space time distortion needed for an Alcubierre Drive to be functional, so we will have time to come up with some sort of way of dealing with the tremendous amount of energy being released. In the mean time we will have to settle more for the mundane side of space exploration, like Newt Gingrich’s 51st state lunar colony, or our spiritual journey to the planet Kolob if Romney is elected.

I guess this just goes to prove the old adage is true. Traveling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops, boy! You see what I did there? It’s from Star Wars.