When old Spock types in the new transwarp beaming formula for Scotty, and he sits down and reads it, Scotty says: "I never thought of Space as being the thing that was moving" or something along those lines. We've always assumed the ship creates a warp bubble and moves through space. But as this theory suggests (which is a real world theory actually -LINK-) that it is actually warping space, and space is the thing moving around the ship. This line from Scotty seems to indicate that this is really how Warp travel works in Star Trek, space is the thing that is moving, and realizing that, and using this formula, allows beaming while a ship is at warp, no matter where it is in space. This could have HUGE implications for the future of the Federation. They NOW have this formula. Starfleet could be very powerful now indeed if they can beam people from planet to planet or planet to ship or ship to planet that are very far away from each other. Intergalactic beaming as it were.
What was more interesting was that yesterday morning there was a link posted on Yahoo where a scientist claims that Warp Drive is once again theoretically possible.
I just googled it, lots of articles on the theory of warp drive and how it is actually space that is the thing that is moving, not the ship. Scotty's line in the movie sets it in stone, that's how it works on Trek.
i have a feeling that in the end something will be done to make it not practical for ordinary use so as not to make the federation invincible. such as there is some physical effect on the body each time it is used at the current point of knowledge. which would account for its not being used in the future even though the theory is known.
"This line from Scotty seems to indicate that this is really how Warp travel works in Star Trek" The line does not tell us anything about how warp works, because we don't know what he is referring to when he makes the statement. In fact, if your hypothesis is correct, he would have already known that 'space' is what that moves and therefore have had a functioning trans-warp drive.
What else could he be talking about? It is pretty obvious IMO. With that kind of thought pattern, the reality of transwarp beaming becomes possible. A Transwarp drive has nothing to do with the beaming formula.
We have seen it used in TNG and in DS9. TNG: Bloodlines, but it was very risky to do. DS9: It was a common feature of Dominion Transporters, but they needed a special transponder.
The funny thing is that he should have known that during his studies at Starfleet Academy. Warp drive basics, no? Or did he simply forget during all those years at that isolated outpost?
Scotty is reading the formula for beaming - not warping. Therfor it is unlikely that we are being told how warp works. The statement 'i never thought it was space that moves' could be in reference to any one of the numerous formula's that are needed to perform teleportation... without knowing what is done its hard to figure out what the phrase means.
I don't think at this point in time the Federation thinks of warp drive like that. It was a revelation to Scotty.
I thought it was already the consensus that space was moving. That's how I always understood the concept at least. -shrugs-
I suppose, but the idea that space is the thing that is moving fits in with the warp theory, that's the only thing so far we know of where that line would apply with everything we've seen onscreen.
I'm not saying that's not how warp works (thought I thought we either created a 'wave of space' and moved with that, or warped the space around us). But they have warp, and know how it works, and warp works by space moving, how come he didn't factor that into his failed teleportation drive?
Maybe they don't think of it that way yet, the difference between making Warp Drive just work, and completely understanding it fundamentally and what is really going on. To me, it sounded like Scotty had a revelation when he said that, first time that ever occured to him.