Warp Speed: It's Lit
One astrophysicist says we can crack it in the next century.
![](https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/59/00/30/65/42af/45fc/8328/a4f8b4b49837/its-happening.png?w=400&h=300&fit=crop&crop=faces&q=50&dpr=2)
Don’t take this for the ramblings of some geek conspiracy theorist scribbling equations on the wall of his studio apartment. Professor Geraint Lewis is legit University of Sydney approved, a speaker at Sydney’s National Science Week — and says we could figure out warp speed in the next century.
“Einstein’s theory is already a hundred years old, but we have only started to scratch the surface,” he told ABC Australia. “I think in the next 100 or 1,000 years we will reveal a lot more about the universe and maybe this hyper-fast travel will be realisable.”
Lewis said that based on Einstein’s equation, we should be able to bend and warp space to travel at a chosen speed. The problem is building an engine with material of ‘negative energy density,’ a physics concept associated with a long a list of applications and theories, especially black holes.
“Empty space itself has a negative energy density,” Lewis said. “The big question is if we could mine it and shape it, we would basically have a warp drive there and then, but we just don’t know if that’s possible.”
Between this and humans’ increased longevity, what the hell, maybe you will someday board an intergalactic vessel.