The closest is 219 light years to us.
Even if an alien race captured the technology to fly at light speed, it would be a hell of a commitment to get to us!
With our current level of understanding of physics and modes of transportation, yes. With quantum teleportation or other as yet unknown methods of transporting things, maybe, maybe not.
How does one know there is "unknown" methods of transporting things? Just asking.
I don't, but I infer from newly emerging things, particularly in quantum physics, such as quantum entanglement, quantum teleportation etc.
How Quantum Entanglement Works (Infographic)
To me it's clear we are still scratching the surface on this stuff. Our observational tools for observing the universe and observing some of these sorts of phenomena in the lab are also in early developmental stages.
These are the areas we know about and can observe now. Will there be realms of physics that will be better understood as those areas are explored- almost certainly. Will new realms be found as a result of better tools and advancements in these areas- that isn't certain of course but I would call it probable.
There is an awful lot we don't know or cannot even directly observe now. Two examples that I can think of off the top of my head:
1. Dark matter/dark energy- we can't see these things but only infer it from their apparent effects on other things. It is approximately 95% of the matter/energy content of he universe.
Dark matter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Gravitational waves. I cite this as scientists are currently working on a detector to directly observe them, so it is an example of our advancing the tools themselves in order to advance the science.
Gravitational wave - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In
physics,
gravitational waves are ripples in the
curvature of
spacetime which propagate as
waves, travelling outward from the source. Predicted in 1916
[1][2] by
Albert Einstein on the basis of his theory of
general relativity,
[3][4] gravitational waves theoretically transport energy as
gravitational radiation. Sources of detectable gravitational waves could possibly include
binary star systems composed of
white dwarfs,
neutron stars, or
black holes. The existence of gravitational waves is a possible consequence of the
Lorentz invariance of
general relativity since it brings the concept of a limiting speed of propagation of the physical interactions with it. Gravitational waves cannot exist in the Newtonian theory of gravitation, in which physical interactions propagate at infinite speed.
Here is a piece on the detector:
LIGO | MIT
So, do I think there is a lot we don't understand with any sort of depth- absolutely. Do I think there are things we know nothing of now? Probably.
Do I infer that we will take some of things we learn and turn them into ways of transporting ourselves around via development of better 'engines' or by learning to use those things to move us? Yep.
