How do they travel so fast in Futurama?

Question

The speed in which they can travel in spaceships seems way higher than lightspeed, despite it being stated in one episode that their spaceship can only travel up to 99% of the speed of light.

For example, in one episode they manage to get to the frontier of the universe in approximately a week and in other episode they also reach the limit of the universe as they are sent to an invented planted that doesn't really exist inside the universe.

It's also obvious that the action is supposed to be happening in our universe in the future, the facts that confirm that it's huge.

I haven't watched all episodes, so maybe in one it's explained that's it's via wormholes or something like that.

Like most science-fiction spaceships, they travel at the speed of Plot. — Mark, Dec 01 '16 at 22:12
"It's also obvious that the action is supposed to be happening in our universe in the future" ... *looks at hand* Hmm. *counts fingers* 1, 2, 3, 4... 5. I have 5 fingers on each hand. Fry and all the other humans of his time have 4. Futurama is not happening in our universe. — Schwern, Dec 02 '16 at 03:12
We all know cartoon physics has its own laws. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon_physics — RichS, Dec 02 '16 at 05:28
Because they found the Comedy Central Channel, and they (were) on it! — krillgar, Dec 02 '16 at 12:17
It's a comedy cartoon. It's not supposed to be scientifically accurate. — Lightness Races in Orbit, Dec 02 '16 at 12:35
As observed in "The Late Philip J. Fry", it's not our universe. After a new Big Bang, it's some else's universe. — Eric Towers, Dec 03 '16 at 00:23
@LightnessRacesinOrbit That said, it is at times significantly more scientifically accurate than most general-audience science fiction. For example: https://theinfosphere.org/Futurama_theorem — ceejayoz, Dec 03 '16 at 14:53
@LightnessRacesinOrbit The reason for four fingers is inherited from The Simpsons (both shows have the same writers and creators), which is also the reason for similar styling. — AStopher, Dec 03 '16 at 19:37
@Schwern: You have no way of knowing what will happen to the human race's quantity of digits in the far future. — Lightness Races in Orbit, Dec 04 '16 at 12:48
"The reason for four fingers is inherited from The Simpsons" - was this your first - and only - exposure to cartoons? Alll (I know of no exceptions, but correct me and I will change that to "almost all") cartoon charatcers have three fingres and a thumb, becasue one one makes the hand look like a bunch of bananas. — Mawg says reinstate Monica, Dec 05 '16 at 12:50

Valorum · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-01T21:19:29.013

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Per "A Clone of My Own"

Farnsworth: These are the dark matter engines I invented. They allow my starship to travel between galaxies in mere hours.

Cubert: That's impossible. You can't go faster than the speed of light.

Farnsworth: Of course not. That's why scientists increased the speed of light in 2208.

This neatly explains why the ship is able to travel at 99% of the speed of light, yet still able to reach distant galaxies in mere hours.

Leela: For Heaven's Gate, Professor. This ship can do 99% light speed. Why are we going 35 miles an hour?

Farnsworth: Because we're in a hurry, that's why.

_{^{Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles - Transcript}}

edited Dec 01 '16 at 21:19

answered Dec 01 '16 at 21:11

Valorum

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Cubert: Nothing is impossible. I understand how the engines work now. It came to me in a dream. [He lifts an access hatch and starts fiddling with some wires under the floor.] The engines don't move the ship at all. The ship stays where it is and the engines move the universe around it. ---- the planet express is unique in this i believe. – Himarm Dec 01 '16 at 21:36
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@Himarm - That sounds like weapons-grade Balonium to me. – Valorum Dec 01 '16 at 21:37
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founded it in your scripts :P, also "That's a complete load." – Himarm Dec 01 '16 at 21:37
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@Himarm While that is Farnsworth's explanation in the show, it's just describing the equivalence principle. Here's some relativistic space sheep for illustration. Since observers will still see the Planet Express Ship traveling faster than light, since it can transport information (or packages) faster than the speed of light, and its crew experiences no time dilation, it's in violation. I suspect Farnsworth might have forgotten they increased the speed of light. – Schwern Dec 02 '16 at 03:19
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@Schwern this statement is After he states that they increased the speed of life – Himarm Dec 02 '16 at 03:31
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@Himarm Fransworth once forgot that he invented a Death Clock as he was presenting it for an award... the same award he'd presented it for last year. – Schwern Dec 02 '16 at 03:50
@Himarm: increase the speed of life? Sounds like it's party time! – flith Dec 02 '16 at 10:19
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@Valorum More like a nod to the Alcubierre drive (let's not go into the fact that it doesn't actually allow FTL) - that could also be described as "moving the space instead of moving the ship". – Luaan Dec 02 '16 at 12:29
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Nothing is impossible, not if you can imagine it, that's what being a scientist is all about - One of my favorite Futurama quotes. Knowing that the show was written by a bunch of scientists and PhD's makes this quote all the more powerful. Also, the entire show is worth a rewatch with the directors commentary, in which they discuss things such as how the ship moves so fast, amongst many other aspects of the show, they tried very hard to make everything at least theoretically possible! – JMK Dec 02 '16 at 14:53
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You should probably also add the comment by @Himarm as an aside/edit; it's another (and, IMO, better since "increasing the speed of light" is not possible, but it is actually quite possible to move space around something faster than that something can move through space) explanation for why the ship can travel faster than the speed of light. – Daevin Dec 02 '16 at 15:17
@Daevin - I think you'll find that neither of the things youve highlighted are actually possible, nor are they even theoretically possible. – Valorum Dec 02 '16 at 15:50
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Just to briefly note, it's mentioned in the DVD commentary that they decided to go with "increasing the speed of light" as opposed to "FTL travel" because the two concepts are equally absurd but at least their version is a different absurd than what everyone else does. – User1000547 Dec 02 '16 at 18:44
@Valorum actually, it is theoretically possible. Look into the Alcubierre drive. – Daevin Dec 02 '16 at 21:57
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@Daevin - I think you'll find that the underlying theoretical basis for that technology is that you somehow create matter with negative mass and that somehow you incorporate that with quantum gravity to make a workable physical model. The Alcubierre Drive is a cute idea because the underlying maths is sound, but the problem isn't the math, it's the part where you need stuff that doesn't exist to make it actually work in practice. – Valorum Dec 02 '16 at 22:12
@Himarm That sounds like something from HHGG. – Arturo Torres Sánchez Dec 03 '16 at 15:22
@JMK "the entire show is worth a rewatch with the directors commentary", really? I have the (original, in case there's a newer) box set, and by disc three they're openly ridiculing the watcher/buyer/fan. It was such a let-down for me. (Contrast to the gold-mine that is the Firefly commentary.) – KlaymenDK Dec 05 '16 at 07:30
@Valorum that's just a problem for the engineers, not the scientists! – Stephen Aug 19 '19 at 04:10

score 25 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

By using the Dark Matter Engine

The Dark matter engine is the key to the extreme acceleration capabilities of the modern space ship.

Albert Einstein's famous statements that it would be mathematically impossible to travel faster than light seem to have held up throughout the 3rd millennia, and although in 2208 the scientific community allegedly raised the speed of light so that they could go faster, the problem that one cannot go faster than the speed of light remains.

The solution was the dark matter engine, which doesn't move the ship through the universe, but instead moves the universe around it at phenomenal speeds and is thereby able to cover incredible distances in a relatively short period of time.
^{_{—Futurama Wiki, Dark Matter Engine (link)}}

And two dark matter engines oppositely oriented? – Vial Dec 05 '16 at 00:35 — Vial, Dec 05 '16 at 00:35

score 17 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 01 '16 at 21:13

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The ship has dark matter engines that allow it to move faster than light. Also, remember that scientists increased the speed of light in 2208.

In the episode 'A Clone of My Own' the Professor takes Hubert outside of the ship to explain how it travels faster than light. At the end of the episode we see a demonstration of it as the space around the ship is actually moved while the ship is stationary.

It's also a mix of the 'L-unit' and dark matter reactors.

answered Dec 01 '16 at 21:13

CBredlow

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Of course, without the L-unit, space travel is little more than a fantasy. – Valorum Dec 01 '16 at 21:20
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It's a very important unit. – CBredlow Dec 01 '16 at 21:21
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Do we count lower-case L's? – Valorum Dec 01 '16 at 21:24
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You know we don't! – CBredlow Dec 01 '16 at 21:27
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re: this, what's worse is that I even had sufficient time to format the answer properly and edit the question... – Valorum Dec 02 '16 at 00:49

How do they travel so fast in Futurama?

3 Answers3