Theoretically a speed faster than light. Introduced in Star Wars as a technique of travel, but can be particually dangerous. Bound by gravity wells, which you cannot pass through or be annihilated. Achieved by activating the hyperdrive. See also hyperspace.

Einstein's theory of Special Relativity predicts that as you accelerate in a certain direction, the universe shrinks along your line of acceleration. What this means is that as you accelerate, the distance you have left to travel will shrink. This effect prevents you from ever reaching a speed at which you can measure a distance and then traverse it faster than light would traverse it.

However, at any constant speed you can measure a (sufficiently large) distance and then traverse it faster than light would traverse it if you stayed put* (or, more relaitively, you can spend less time traversing it than you would spend waiting for light to traverse it). All you have to do is accelerate yourself for a while. Every little bit of speed you gain will make what's left of that distance you measured shorter. This will require an awful lot of acceleration, so you might want to get yourself a planet sized light sail. If you happen to look back, you'll see that what you measured as 10 light years before you started accelerating might now look like only 5 light years. Of course, if you turn your accelerator around and start it up again, you will slowly expand that distance back up to 10 light years (when you finally return to your initial frame of reference).

Anyway, that's what Einstein thought.

*Note that if you do accelerate, whatever light you would have otherwise waited for will continue moving at the speed of light relative to you so that you will never be able to beat an actual beam of light to your destination.

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