| rdfs:comment | - In the late-2360s, Hekaran scientists presented preliminary research of the danger to the Federation Science Council for evaluation. The evidence didn't hold up at that point. (TNG: "Force of Nature" ) Later that year, the USS Enterprise-D was authorized by Admiral Margaret Blackwell to exceed warp speed limitations during the assignment to salvage the USS Pegasus. (TNG: "The Pegasus" ). They were also given permission to exceed warp speed limitations when delivering urgently needed medical supplies to Barson II. (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder" ).
- Interestingly, this fact leads to several paradoxes: for example, if you're standing on a long skateboard that's travelling at 299,792,458 m/s, and you start running forward at 5 m/s, then you're still travelling at 299,792,458 m/s. And so is the skateboard. This is because you and the skateboard have achieved the speed limit. Also, neither you nor the skateboard would be experiencing time.
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| abstract | - Interestingly, this fact leads to several paradoxes: for example, if you're standing on a long skateboard that's travelling at 299,792,458 m/s, and you start running forward at 5 m/s, then you're still travelling at 299,792,458 m/s. And so is the skateboard. This is because you and the skateboard have achieved the speed limit. Also, neither you nor the skateboard would be experiencing time. This speed limit was discovered by Albert Einstein, who was able to reconcile this apparent paradox by employing a splendid mane of weird hair and a very nice pen. For a time, the idea of a speed limit was entirely theoretical, and many physicists did not accept it. However, the concept gained traction in 1962, when NASA administrator Strauss Klein glued little rubber feet onto the bottom of it so it wouldn't slide off his desk.
- In the late-2360s, Hekaran scientists presented preliminary research of the danger to the Federation Science Council for evaluation. The evidence didn't hold up at that point. (TNG: "Force of Nature" ) In 2369, unusual energy readings of elevated thoron emissions in the plasma field were detected in the Denorios belt. They were speculated to be the environmental byproduct of the increased traffic and presence of many warp and impulse engines in the area. The effect appeared to be the formation of a subspace rupture. It was however discovered that the rupture was a manifestation of what Jadzia Dax imagined it to be, caused by aliens from the Gamma Quadrant. The elevated emissions turned out to be harmless. (DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses") In 2370, the Hekaran scientist Serova opened a subspace rift by overloading her ships engines to a warp core breach in the Hekaran sector, demonstrating that conventional warp engines did in fact cause severe damage to the fabric of spacetime. In order to slow the rate of the damage, the Federation Council shared the findings with all known warp-capable species and imposed a speed restriction of warp factor 5 on all Federation vessels in all but extreme emergencies. The areas of space most damaged by that point were restricted to essential travel only. The Klingons were expected to follow the restrictions, but Deanna Troi and Worf thought it unlikely that the Romulans, the Ferengi and the Cardassians would. (TNG: "Force of Nature" ) Later that year, the USS Enterprise-D was authorized by Admiral Margaret Blackwell to exceed warp speed limitations during the assignment to salvage the USS Pegasus. (TNG: "The Pegasus" ). They were also given permission to exceed warp speed limitations when delivering urgently needed medical supplies to Barson II. (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder" ). In 2378, The Doctor, disguised as Kathryn Janeway, informed the crew that hostile ecological extremist aliens had completely outlawed conventional warp drive inside their territory. They supposedly also believed all conventional warp drives cause damage to subspace, and had ordered the warp core of the USS Voyager to be ejected. The Doctor also referred to a fictional type of warp drive, supposedly decades ahead of Federation technology, called transphasic warp drive that didn't cause the damage. (VOY: "Renaissance Man") In 2379, the USS Enterprise-E was still using warp 5 when traveling to Kolarus III. (Star Trek Nemesis) Known regions of space where warp speeds were physically limited by local subspace effects include the Hekaras Corridor and the Lantaru sector. (VOY: "The Omega Directive")
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