The idea of a warp drive has been around for generations. Initially, it was a science fiction fantasy, but then later physicists started researching it as an actual possibility at some point in the future.
While we are still a very long way off from being able to travel faster than light using warp technology, a new paper (that has yet to be peer-reviewed) suggests that we may be able to detect the use of this type of space travel.
This means that if other intelligent life forms are able to use a technology similar to this, we should be able to identify it, which would be evidence for extraterrestrial life.
The authors describe the gravitational waves that would be expected from an event where a warp drive was used:
“Overall, the signal is very distinct from the typical compact binary coalescences observed by gravitational wave detectors and more similar to events like the collapse of an unstable neutron star or the head-on collision of two black holes.”
While scientists and average people alike have been searching for extraterrestrial life for a long time, there has been no conclusive evidence that it exists. Having this additional method for detecting intelligent life is very valuable.
In the coming months or years, this paper will likely be peer-reviewed, which will give some additional insights into how the research could be used by scientists in the future.
The paper presents very interesting ideas that may someday give us one more method for attempting to not just detect intelligent life, but life that can travel faster than light.
This would be a major advancement providing both that extraterrestrial life exists and that this type of travel is possible.
In the paper, however, the authors acknowledge that a lot of work still needs to be done, saying:
“Further work would be required to understand how generic the signatures are and properly characterize their detectability.”
This paper could encourage further work in warp drive technologies.
Which let’s be honest, is pretty cool.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?