Darn, and it Looked So Promising

Ok, I'll be the first (although surely not the last) to admit that I've become a little too enamoured with the concept of the warp drive. On a deeply visceral level the idea of a universal speed limit just doesn't jive with the way universe is set up. There HAS to be some way that galaxy (ooh, or even trans-galactic) empires could exist, and that's not going to happen if it takes 100+ years to visit your closest neighbor. So, the warp drive, even though it's probably centuries away (although who knows wtf our scientific progress is going to start looking like), was definitely near the top of my science wish list (hmm... that's a cool idea for a later post).

Unfortunately, I just came across this story, which suggests there might be a few down sides to the warp drive. Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess.