So you could put a spaceship inside, and it would reach a faraway location faster than light would, without getting all warped and shredded to pieces. The trick in his model was to use huge masses to make a bubble of warped space surrounding a patch of normal un-warped space. Warping something with the gravity of a black hole would just, ya know, tear the ship to shreds! So in 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre hypothesized a way to ‘cheat’ this system. But this is a problem for building, like, a spaceship that runs on warped space. And gravity can hugely distort and warp space like stretched rubber. A way to warp space is with extreme gravity caused by things like planets, stars, and black holes. Einstein’s theory of general relativity tells us that space can be stretched, distorted, or warped. You see, the rule about not going faster than light only applies to things with mass, which is most things that we know of! But that rule does not apply to space that is surrounding an object, since space does not have mass. … But we could now be one small step closer. This is a weird exception that’s always been mathematically possible, but physically impossible. A proposed one is a theoretical Star Trek-like warp drive that lets you go faster than light without actually moving faster than light. So scientists have always looked for loopholes to that rule. According to the laws of physics, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, which is a bummer because that means there’s stuff in space we will never get to visit. Thanks to CuriosityStream for supporting this episode! Go to /SciShowSpace to start streaming thousands of documentaries and nonfiction TV shows. Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporter for helping us keep SciShow Space free for everyone forever: GrowingViolet & Jason A Saslow! Support SciShow Space by becoming a patron on Patreon: SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It's called SciShow Tangents. Scientists have long been looking for a loophole for getting past the speed of light, and they might be one step closer to achieving that. Use code ScishowSpace to sign up, just $14.99 for the whole YEAR. Go to to start streaming Secrets of the Solar System.
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