This just in: Warp Drive May Be More Feasible Than Thought, Scientists Say

Some people may remember the announcement of the idea that Warp Travel may in fact be possible in the late ’90s.  The mechanism for that was called the Alcubierre Drive and was developed by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre.  The idea is that using a ring made of some, probably exotic, material and a huge energy budget space-time could be artificially manipulated allowing transport at FTL speeds.    The energy required is massive and we currently have no method of producing that amount of energy but we all know that technology follows the possible and imagine how much money there is to be made with a feasible starship.

For a Sci-Fi writer and general geek, the whole notion that FTL travel is possible is exciting beyond belief.  I don’t think I will be alive to see the first people take off or the stars at warp 9 but my grandkids might.  I also plan on using a variation of the Alcubierre Drive in my books.  I assume that real physics limits the actual speeds possible depending on the energy budget of the ship in question.  I also assume that size of vessel has some kind of exponential effect on energy requirements.  That will not do in the world of Sci-Fi for me so I will twitch the parameters.  The ships used in my universe will probably look much like the one below though.  The big question I have to work through for my purposes is warships and what they will look like or if they are even possible.