Warp speed space travel that will allow us to travel between galaxies could be a reality in the next 100 years.
This is according to Professor Geraint Lewis, from the University of Sydney, who claims the idea of warp speed is, in theory, possible.
He claims the futurist concept was part of Einstein's theory of relativity, which describes how we can bend space and time.
'Einstein's theory is already a hundred years old, but we have only started to scratch the surface,' Professor Lewis told ABC News.
'I think in the next 100 or 1,000 years we will reveal a lot more about the universe and maybe this hyper-fast travel will be realisable.'
However, whether scientists are able to get the materials needed to create such a machine is still open to debate. 'If you look at the equation that Einstein gave us, it shows you can bend and warp space so you can travel at any speed you like in the universe,' he said.
'It's theoretically possible, but can we ever build a warp drive?
'We have hints that the kind of materials that we would need exist in the universe, but whether or not we could get them together and build a warp drive, we still don't know.'
The astrophysicist claims that without Star Trek-style space travel, mankind will be unlikely to colonise the universe.
'The big problem we have, the speed of light, while fast - 300,000 kilometres per second - the distances involved are immense.
'So even travelling at the speed of light, it would take four years to go to the nearest star and two million years to go to the nearest large galaxy.
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