and which would sterilize the stellar system it was headed toward with the energy that it pushes ahead of it.
That always tempered for me the giddy fantasy of sci-fi space travel. Sure, you could direct that energy somewhere safe but you don't have a lot of wiggle room for mistakes on a ship that by its very operation fires a Death Star blast of energy every time it arrives! For all the talk of interstellar travel being a way to hedge the risk of humanity's extinction just having a capable vessel could enable a doomsday cult to forever "end human suffering".
A drive that we can't build
Thankfully.
2.4 statute miles of surgical tubing at Yale U. = 1 I.V.League