Warp Drive

Found in: Star Trek

Warp drive is surely the most famous way to get your butt to a distant star. But, as with anything related to Star Trek, there's not a simple explanation. The basic story is that if you combine matter and antimatter fused with some dilithium, you can create a subspace bubble that exists outside the normal fabric of space–time. With warp plasma spewing out of a ship's nacelles you can now propel yourself faster than light to varying degrees (the famous "warp factor" you'll often hear Starfleet captains shouting about).

Maintaining a warp drive ain't easy, which is why every iteration of Star Trek had an (awesome) chief engineer and a set with a big blue glowy thing. For that reason alone it is at the top of the list.

Plausibility Factor: We're gonna give this one an 8 and direct you to the work of Miguel Alcubierre. In 1994 he presented a paper on the "Alcubierre Drive" that presents concepts very similar to a warp bubble.