Space folding

Space folding is a fictional method of instant space travel whereby the space folds so that the start and end points of the trip coincide/touch, and the travel takes no time.^{[citation needed]}

In the Dune franchise created by Frank Herbert, space folding is depicted as instantaneous interstellar travel effected by mutated Guild Navigators under the influence of the drug melange. Kevin R. Grazier analyzes the concepts of folding space and faster-than-light travel in the essay "Cosmic Origami" in The Science of Dune (2008).^[1]

In A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle, "tesseracts" allow for travel through space and time,^[2]^[3]^[4] explained as follows:

Mrs Who took a portion of her white robe in her hands and held it tight. "You see," Mrs. Whatsit said, "if a very small insect were to move from the section of skirt in Mrs Who's right hand to that in her left, it would be quite a long walk for him if he had to walk straight across." Swiftly Mrs Who brought her hands, still holding her skirt, together. "Now, you see," Mrs Whatsit said, "he would be here, without that long trip. That is how we travel." ^[5]

In the Star Trek universe, known for its warp drive technology, folding space is depicted as an alternate, instantaneous form of travel effected in different ways by different civilizations.^{[citation needed]}

The concept of "space fold" used in the Japanese Macross franchise is actually hyperspace travel, which is carried out by first swapping the location of the spacecraft with Super Dimension space or subspace ("fold in"), and then swapping the Super Dimension space with the space at the destination ("fold out").^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Grazier, Kevin R. (2008). "Cosmic Origami". In Grazier, Kevin R. (ed.). The Science of Dune. pp. 177–206. ISBN 978-1-933771-28-1.
^ Dirda, Michael (February 27, 2018). "Perspective | 'A Wrinkle in Time': Let's hope the movie is better than the book". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 September 2018. Once Charles Wallace, Meg and their friend Calvin O'Keefe are transported to other planets by using tesseracts — wrinkles in the space-time continuum — the novel starts to go off in several directions at once.
^ Petersen, Carolyn Collins (2013). Astronomy 101: From the Sun and Moon to Wormholes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts about the Universe. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, New Delhi: Simon and Schuster. p. 155. ISBN 9781440563591.
^ Gaughan, Richard (2019). Wormholes Explained. New York: Enslow Publishing, LLC. pp. 10–12. ISBN 9780766099654.
^ A Wrinkle in Time, Chapter 5: "The Tesseract"

[1] Grazier, Kevin R. (2008). "Cosmic Origami". In Grazier, Kevin R. (ed.). The Science of Dune. pp. 177–206. ISBN 978-1-933771-28-1.

[2] Dirda, Michael (February 27, 2018). "Perspective | 'A Wrinkle in Time': Let's hope the movie is better than the book". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 September 2018. Once Charles Wallace, Meg and their friend Calvin O'Keefe are transported to other planets by using tesseracts — wrinkles in the space-time continuum — the novel starts to go off in several directions at once.

[:3-3] Petersen, Carolyn Collins (2013). Astronomy 101: From the Sun and Moon to Wormholes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts about the Universe. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, New Delhi: Simon and Schuster. p. 155. ISBN 9781440563591.

[4] Gaughan, Richard (2019). Wormholes Explained. New York: Enslow Publishing, LLC. pp. 10–12. ISBN 9780766099654.

[5] A Wrinkle in Time, Chapter 5: "The Tesseract"

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