Sci-fi Saturdays: Warped
As we’re getting closer to the first off-planet sequence in C&M, it makes me think about FTL travel and how it’s presented in sci-fi. As far as I can tell, it’s pretty much broken down into four categories. Please note that these are my categories and not anything standardized (as if anything is in sci-fi) and it’s based on the rough mechanics of travel, despite what the name is.
- Quantum Tunneling, where it looks like it’s a travel down a tunnel: Star Wars and Stargate seem to fit this the most often. (it’s called quantum tunneling vice tunneling because I’d once heard a lecture where this was described as the potential physical mechanics for actual FTL travel. I’m not a physicist, so I can’t comment on the accuracy.)
- Jumping, where it looks like a rocket up to speed. Star Trek is the prime example.
- Folding, where space seems to fold or be bent to the needs of the travel. The major one here is the Battlestar Galactica remake.
- and lastly, Transversing, where one is traveling through an opening. Babylon 5 is the best example here.
Now obviously, these aren’t perfect breakdowns. Star Wars jumps to lightspeed in order to get into the hyperspace corridor. Stargate uses the eponymous devices to get to the tunnel as well. You never see what’s beyond the flash in BSG, so you never really know which one of the above is true. I could go on, but you get the point. Ultimately, these are all the products of the writer or writers’ imagination and bears no similarity to anything in real life (that we know of, anyway.) For all we know, it could be like Spaceballs, where “they’ve gone plaid.” Or maybe cuddly Cthulhu is in charge of protecting us all from the dangers of FTL travel.
