People who grew up watching Star Trek and Star Wars often fantasize about the possibility of faster-than-light travel — and journeying to distant planets in a matter of days. But the somewhat depressing reality is that most physicists believe that’s literally impossible and that reaching even the nearest stars could take a spacecraft decades or even millennia.
But don’t be too discouraged. Physicist Bryan Gaensler — a self-described Trekkie — thinks that, when it comes to interstellar travel, the truth may be stranger than fiction. He’ll lay out some of the latest thinking on space exploration and alien life during a free public lecture at the Perimeter Institute, in Waterloo, on February 5 at 7 p.m. If you can’t attend, you can watch it via live stream here:
The Perimeter Institute’s public lectures are usually held once a month. TVO.org will stream the entire 2019-20 series.
