For Star Trek, warp drive is the solution to all of the writer’s problems. As a plot device, warp drive allows for rapid interstellar travel and the interaction of characters and species that would otherwise never meet. It also makes it possible to neatly wrap up each episode and move on to the next one. But how does warp drive in Star Trek compare to any warp drive we might actually be able to build?
There are many remarkable aspects to the Star Trek phenomenon, not the least of which is its creator’s remarkable ability to apparently predict the future. From iPads and cell phones to handheld medical scanners, many of the things imagined for Star Trek in the 1960s became a reality in our modern lives.
One thing we haven’t actually seen yet though is warp drive. As pointed out on Space.com, as originally envisioned the warp drive of the starship Enterprise used antimatter to supply the power necessary for its “warp coils” to relocate the ship faster than light – but presumably without actually passing the speed of light and violating causality.
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