I didn't read anything about star gate production based on Mach. The author goes on to write:
Performance Evaluation
We now evaluate the performance of this technology using results from Paul March's Mach-2MHz experimental set up. Firstly, the lifetime of the set up just lasted a few minutes, which offers the first stumbling block to being a feasible rocket drive. Secondly however, the results from the experiment showed a very high specific impulse, of IESP = 13.62×1012 s. This is superior to that of the Space Shuttle's main engine (SSME) which has a specific impulse of 454 s. Thirdly, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the set up was a mere 7.44×10-4 compared to that of the SSME which has a ratio of 73.12. Finally, we seek to evaluate the possible trajectory of the technology. Results are unconfirmed as yet, but it is proposed that for a 1 g constant acceleration, the time taken for a Mach Effect based rocket drive to travel from geosynchronous orbit to the Moon takes about 4 hours.
Four hours is fast, but it takes light less than two seconds to travel between the Earth and the moon. The nearest star is 4+ light years away (that's four years not counting acceleration, deceleration and/or the necessity of steering).
I.e., how do we steer if we're traveling near the speed of light. And, if we warp space, how do we know where we're going? Time and space will be warped, but how will we know what part of space is safe to warp to if we've never been there? And, how do we know where to warp back? Reminds me of Twilight Zone episodes
.
Well, I think that the Earth is already the best space ship for humans and even human interstellar discovery. I think it's just as feasible to engineer a way to move the Earth as to engineer a way to control worm holes or travel faster than light. I don't think we'll be safely navigating through warped space before we're able to navigate space in our own solar system. I'd bet that we'd have people on one of Jupiter's moons before we have them on anyplace outside the solar system.
Another possibility is human nomadism on an artificial space ship. I mean that there will be a group of people who go away from Earth on a one way trip to nowhere, just into space. They don't need to travel exceptionally fast. They just need a way to generate the energy needed for to support and recreate life. (Um, of course, if it had it's own air, water, animals, plants, and the other comforts of home, it'd be a lot like the Earth
). But, humans who lived in a big metal box would inevitably change (or evolve because of less gravity, more cosmic radiation, etc.
"A man is rich when he has time and freewill. How he chooses to invest both will determine the return on his investment."