Sci Fi Friday: Colonies and a trip to the stars

http://io9.com/5963263/how-nasa-will-build-its-very-first-warp-drive
The future of humanity lies in the stars, but the stars are rather far away. But, maybe not so far as we thought. Recently we discovered that the speed of light can vary in a vacuum, which throws all manner of things into question. The speed limit of the universe... isn't? Fluctuates? Maybe we have wiggle room, if we can only figure out how.

http://io9.com/after-earth-falls-will-interstellar-space-travel-be-ou-1681374745
But perhaps we don't have to. The point at which we can conceivably get to the stars is the point that we're building enormous colony ships, harvesting space resources to build artificial habitats, designed just for our use and needs.

Still, no matter what happens, we're going to need a better method than our present option, burning enormous masses of fuel and having our vessels reach low earth orbit running on fumes, compared to what they start their journeys from the surface with
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/first-photos-of-the-largest-airplane-ever-now-in-manufa-1688085252
It's nice to see that someone else had the same idea. Make use of that handy dandy atmosphere to get climb to the top the easy, efficient way, and save the space-fuel for space.