Hi guys
Try to remember everything humans know is restricted by observational limitations.
What we think we know, we know from 'our view' of the Universe.
The Speed of Light is not and never has been the speed limit of the Universe.
There are many things which move faster than c.
~ thought
~ energy
~ gravity
to name a few...
A photon is both energy and mass.
It switches accordinmg to its environment (and other factors)
While it is energy, in a complete vacuum it moves at the speed of light.
While it has mass, it does not.
The speed of light (c) is the limit of speed for mass. Energy can exceed that speed limit as long as there is no mass present.
Higgs Theory postulates the Higgs Field limits the speed of mass. Without the Higgs field, everything would fly apart at the speed of light.
The Universe is not a complete vacuum. There are pockets of gas and dust, planets, moons and stars. There are gravitational waves of different degrees as well. Gravity affects mass, therefore when a photon is mass it is affected by gravitational waves.
A few years ago I looked up
Cosmic Anisotropy VS Homogeneity and Isotropy
Try pasting that into Google Scholar and reading the data available.
While RedShift is accurate for our limited observations the conditions of the Universe make RedShift unreliable due to cosmic 'speed traps' which change the photon from energy to mass then back again. There is also a condition called Gravitational Lensing which distorts our view of light as a distance indicator.
The so-called Big Bang was not the beginning of the Universe.
The beginning was the change of static state to a dynamic state.
The Big Bang was merely the point at which the dynamic state reached a temperature in which mass converted to energy and produced light. The birth of the photon in energy form.
Our observation of the Universe is limited to our view from within the explosion of matter and energy resulting from the change of static to dynamic states.
Imagine an explosion.
We are within that explosion looking at it from a limited view. We don't see the entire explosion, only a small portion of it from a specific point within it. To determine the speed and direction of the explosion we would need to observe it from...
~ multiple points within it
~ a view from outside of it
As it is, we can only observe it from one small point in time and space.
Now that we have begun exploring quantum, many physical laws are changed at that scale. Quantum means Very Small. Physics change at the quantum level. New laws take affect. Spooky theory exceeds the speed of light. Aka: Quantum Coupling postulates two particles at quantum share states until one is acted upon (observed). This means, states change faster than the speed of light over a distance.
Time is always relative to the observer. Duration is the change in the Universe from one static state to the next static state. At our scale, we are unable to differentiate that change and we 'see' time as a constant flow.
Our smallest observation is Planck. At Planck, duration still occurs faster than we can observe. At any point within the change of static states there are periods of duration. Duration is the fastest thing in the Universe and it is far beyond our ability to quantify.
From a MegaScale perspective, time again works very differently than our ability to observe. We postulate time moves slower at megascales but since we cannot observe it directly, we cannot know. We are limited to our view of the Universe at our scale on our time limits.
We see a photon moving at 186,000mps but at Planck or megascales this may not be the case.
For faster than light travel certain things must be overcome, most importantly the effects of the Higgs Field. However, if the Higgs field were nullified, the matter within the nullification field would fly apart. There would need to be something which keeps the matter of the craft and you from flying apart at the speed of light. A way to prevent mass from losing gravity. Call it a Warp Bubble as Star Trek did. However, creating such a Warp Bubble would be much harder than it sounds because all the Fundamental forces of the Universe would need to be pristine within the bubble while outside the bubble the Higgs field is turned off. Then you would need some type of navigation, propulsion and phasing technology so you don't crash into mass along the way.
The knowledge and technology for such a system is far, far beyond our capacity.
All matter is made of energy (think atomic bomb). Mass has a limited speed in this Universe due to the Higgs Field. Energy is not limited by the Higgs Field (as far as we know) so one method of faster than light travel might be to0 convert the mass of the craft, and you, to energy and back to mass again. However, that too is far, far beyond our ability.