Mycelium does form an enormous network here on Earth, but this is due to its connected root structure.The original paper that contended this was debunked here and here. But animals cannot do horizontal gene transfer only bacteria can. Star Trek: Discovery relies on the ability of a certain animalвЂЉ-вЂЉa space tardigradeвЂЉ-вЂЉto do horizontal gene transfer and incorporate foreign DNA into its own genome.When the crew of Star Trek: Discovery were first learning about the Tardigrade and the mycelium spores, they had no idea it could actually hold the key to traveling faster than even warp drive would allow. ItвЂ™s a clever idea, for sure, that envisions a mechanism for traveling to distant locations more quickly and precisely than even a warp drive could enable.Д«ut, as Star Trek presented it, itвЂ™s fundamentally flawed. These spores are spread all throughout the galaxy, and permeate not only space, but sub-space as well.Д«y interfacing with this spore network from a special room present on the ship, a Displacement Activated Spore Hub (DASH) drive enables the ship to travel from space, into subspace, and back into space at a completely disconnected location. (MICHAEL GIBSON/CBS)ДЄccording to the show, thereвЂ™s a network of fungal spores from a special type of mushroom known as a mycelium. Paul Stamets is the key to DiscoveryвЂ™s spore drive, having uncovered a link between the mycelium network heвЂ™s been studying, a tardigrade creature, and the ability of a ship to вЂjumpвЂ™ from one causally disconnected region of space to another. The way Star Trek: Discovery implements the spore drive may be a bit suspect, but the basic idea isnвЂ™t as crazy it sounds. Spore drive, where a network of mycelium spores spread across the Universe allow a spacecraft to instantaneously travel from one disconnected point to another, as though they miraculously teleported.If negative mass and/or negative energy exist, this could shift from a mathematical possibility to a physical one. In the mid-1990s, theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre created a spacetime where this is possible within General Relativity. Warp drive, where space itself is compressed in front of a spacecraft (and expanded behind it), enabling it to travel through that compressed space in a fashion thatвЂ™s effectively faster-than-light.Impulse engines, which is similar to conventional travel: a fuel is used to create energy, which creates thrust by a backward-facing exhaust, propelling the spacecraft forward.The three ways that the Star Trek franchise envisions space travel are as follows: Star Trek DiscoveryвЂ™s spore drive opens up a new possible mechanism for faster-than-light travel that may be even superior to warp drive. If we had this technology, we could easily bridge the distance to the stars, but this remains in the realm of science fiction for today. The warp drive system on the Star Trek starships was what made travel from star to star possible. The idea has been dismissed as a massive science blunder, but the right circumstances could take it from the realm of science fiction to real-life science. Instead of traveling slower-than-light (via impulse engines) or even faster-than-light through space (via warp drive), the spore drive enables an instantaneous вЂњjumpвЂќ from one location in space to another, disconnected place a great distance away. In Star Trek: Discovery, a new type of technology takes us even faster than warp drive: the spore drive. But if the rules that the Universe plays by are different than we understand them today, many things that appear to be forbidden today may be possible after all. Particles cannot travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum the entropy of a closed system can never decrease energy and momentum must be conserved. There are a few rules in the Universe that seem likely to never be broken. (STAR TREK / CBS PRESSВ KIT) The ability to instantaneously jump from one location in space to another clearly violates the laws of physics. The idea of the spore drive may be physically possible in the Universe if extra spatial dimensions exist, but it probably wonвЂ™t be powered by a network of mushroom spores.

The USS Discovery, NCC-1031, is the first Star Trek ship weвЂ™ve seen to be capable of traveling via spore drive, which is faster than both impulse engines and warp drive.