Melbourne: Star Trek-style 'warp speed' space travel -high-speed travel between galaxies -is theoretically possible, an astrophysicist in Australia has claimed.
Professor Geraint Lewis, from the University of Sydney , said the futuristic concept was actually part of Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity. "It's theoretically possible, but can we ever build a warp drive? We have hints that the kind of materials that we would need exist in the universe, but whether or not we could get them together and build a warp drive, we still don't know," In order to build a warp drive, scientists need to find a material that has a "negative density energy".
"Empty space itself has a negative energy density . 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," he added.
