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Mix in a little hydrogen, helium and dark matter, let it bake for about 8 billion years until little clumps of self-sustaining galaxies appear.

The "stirring" of a galaxy happens a lot faster and is more streamlined than we ever thought. Instead of necessary "fuel gases" drifting in loose currents to the center of the galaxy as we originally thought, taking 8 billion years give or take a million, those gases speed through filament "rivers", reaching the center in only a billion years.

This explains the fast spin of galaxies, which scientists couldn't previously understand.

Now, why am I sharing this with you? Well, it stemmed from my interest in intergalactic travel and the recent Russian earthquake.

Huh, you ask?

I know on the surface the two don't really pair up, but hang in there, I'm getting to the point. Ride the AR thought process with me.

GPS systems went haywire after Russia's 8.2 earthquake. Sent the world trembling with aftershocks all over this hunk of rock we call home.

Then, this morning I read an article about the newly discovered way galaxies are formed and sustain. Click HERE to read it.

The article was exciting in regards to my opening thought above, but it caused a side thought. Particularly the section that read: "Researchers didn't understand how the outer material could be spinning so fast."

Now, I know I've already covered the obstacles to space travel before, but another insurmountable and disappointing truth hit me. At least undefeatable in my lifetime.

If we are to go intergalactic with our travels, we'll have to master the whole spacetime manipulation thing. I mean, fusion and proton travel methods just aren't going to cut it for intergalactic. Maybe for interstellar, but even that's a serious commitment. At the rate the universe is expanding, and the growing distance between galaxies, we'll never get there.

But, if we master the whole Einstein move and pinch spacetime to accommodate our natural thirst to conquer all known things and places, we'll need a universal GPS system.

WARNING: AR veer-off moment hitting about now...I could name it UPS for Universal Positioning System but then I wouldn't be able to type it without giggling. I mean, I'm sure if we ever get that advanced UPS will be a primary user of the universal GPS system and all, but still, a bit ego-ish to name it after them, right?

But with the rate of expansion between us, and the rate of spin for galaxies, how can we ever manage to maintain a positioning system of that scale. I mean, one Russian earthquake managed to disrupt our measly planetary system.

How will we ever keep up?

If we can't get the spacetime worked out and an efficient, manageable positioning system developed we'll never leave this solar system, let alone the galaxy.

Okay, AR, don't panic. (Like the Hitchhikers reference there?)

We just need to be patient. Every day science is breaking what it knew and learning brand new things all together. No, it won't happen in my lifetime, but maybe in one of my next lifetimes.

Patience, AR, patience.