Warp Speed! (0pen Post)

(Yeh, this is Friday's Open Trackback Alliance post, slapped up Thursday night.) Is interstellar travel on the horizon? Maybe. And if so, it may be at "warp speed". The Department of Energy and the Air Force are funding research into a magnetic bottle/gravitational field drive that would in effect be the "hyperspace drive" of science fiction. But unlike most of the science fiction "hyperspace" drives, this one's envisioned as being usable within the solar system, as well. Man. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to vacation on Mars? Yeh, yeh: I know they're still working on building the tools to make the test beds to test the theory. But at least it's a Step Farther Out. h.t. Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor Oh, also: Open Post. If you don't know how to link to this post and trackback, drop me a note in comments. Dilithium crystals excited at Bloggin' Outloud (where PUNishment is meted out unmercifully) and Stuck on Stupid (dig the new, uh... digs).