Scientists say Star Wars-like travel between galaxies could be real

Scientists say a real-world 'warp drive' could allow spaceships to jump between galaxies just like in Star Wars.

Rather than burning fuel like a rocket to push the ship through space, warp drives could bend and stretch spacetime itself to bring the destination closer.

The idea that space and time are flexible and can be warped is the basis of Einstein ’s theory of general relativity.

A real warp drive would be far more impractical and dangerous than the hyperdrives we see in the films.

Dr Clough says warp travellers wouldn't really see streaking stars out the window.

This is because the cosmic microwave background radiation, energy left over from the Big Bang , would be shifted out of the microwave spectrum into visible wavelengths by the Doppler effect.

But a real warp drive requires something called 'exotic matter' which is matter with negative energy.

By using negative energy, future space travellers would be able to shape spacetime into the structure needed to make a warp bubble.

But this is still 'well and truly in the realm of sci-fi' - but if there is anyone in a galaxy far far away already jumping through hyperspace, we could detect them.

Einstein predicted that if two massive bodies came together it would create a huge ripple in space time that it should be detectable on Earth .