Wormholes could offer a path to the most distant places in the universe. (Credit: dimonika/Shutterstock)

Wormholes make the best shortcuts in the universe. That’s true in a literal sense, since the theoretical things can connect distant corners of the cosmos (or even different universes), allowing a traveler to go someplace without having to visit everywhere in between.

But wormholes also present the perfect way for writers to get around that pesky speed of light, the universe’s speed lim