I can see this Distance Ladder (used by astronomers to measure increasingly large distances in space) being unreliable. Fortunately, there's a simple solution - get rid of distance.
The quantum fluctuations that became you, me, and everything in the universe could be the binary digits (BITS) used in electronics (the fluctuating would be the switching between 1 and 0). In this case, binary digits are the Hidden Variables spoken of by Einstein and others and probabilistic quantum mechanics will one day be discovered to actually be deterministic, containing a hidden order like meteorology's chaos theory. To make a universe, we could draw a two-dimensional (2D) Mobius strip with the BITS, combine 2 strips into a 3D figure-8 Klein bottle, and give the bottles the 4 dimensions of space-time by incorporating adaptive Wick rotation - and thus a 4th dimension of time agreeing with Special Relativity's time dilation - into its component Mobius strips.
When you have trillions of Mobius and figure-8 Klein elements assembled, you can follow the theory of the mass-giving Higgs field being the result of various couplings. (M. Tanabashi, M. Harada, and K. Yamawaki (2006) “The Origin of Mass and Strong Coupling Gauge Theories”. “The Origin of Mass and Strong Coupling Gauge Theories”. International Workshop on Strongly Coupled Gauge Theories.Nagoya. pp. 227–241) This theory has lost popularity since the Higgs boson was discovered. But an implication of a 1919 paper by Einstein called “Do gravitational fields play an essential role in the structure of elementary particles?” (Albert Einstein (1919) “Do gravitational fields play an essential role in the structure of elementary particles?” (“Spielen Gravitationsfelder im Aufbau der materiellen Elementarteilchen eine wesentliche Rolle?”) Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, [Math. Phys.], 349-356. Berlin) is that the coupling is between gravitons (the hypothetical quantum units of gravity) and photons (the quantum units of electromagnetism such as visible light, radio waves and X-rays). That could mean coupling is also between the Mobius strips and figure-8 Klein bottles composing the particles. It only needs to be assumed that these topological shapes exist on a level between photons/gravitons and 1’s/0’s, being built up into the particles and being composed of the binary digits). With trillions of Mobius and figure-8 Klein elements assembled, these (now respectively called photons and gravitons) must interact via vector-tensor-scalar geometry to give matter what we call the emergent property of mass - similar to hydrogen and oxygen combining to give water what we call wetness. This proposed link between the Mobius strip and the Mobius doublet (figure-8 Klein bottle) would also be a link between the photon and graviton - suggesting the unification of electromagnetism with gravitation.^ It also confirms Dutch physicist Erik Verlinde’s idea that gravity is an emergent property (emerging from mathematics).
^ Unifying gravitation and electromagnetism has this consequence: A 2009 electrical-engineering experiment at America's Yale University, together with the ideas of Albert Einstein, tells us how we could travel to other stars and galaxies. Electrical engineer Hong Tang and his team at Yale demonstrated that, on silicon-chip and transistor scales, light can attract and repel itself like electric charges or magnets. (“Tunable bipolar optical interactions between guided lightwaves” by Mo Li, W. H. P. Pernice & H. X. Tang - Nature Photonics 3, 464 - 468 (2009)) This is the Optical Bonding Force. For 30 years until his death in 1955, Einstein worked on his Unified Field Theory with the aim of uniting electromagnetism (light is one form of this) and gravitation. Achievement of this means the quantum components (gravitons) of gravity/spacetime-warps between spaceships and stars could mimic the Optical Force and be attracted together, thereby eliminating distance (this is similar to traversing a wormhole, or shortcut, between folds in space and time). If the gravitons are superposed and entangled, distances between both points in space and points in time are totally eliminated.
Of course, this elimination of the distance ladder doesn't need to be reserved for trips to other stars, galaxies, and periods of time. It can also be used for a quick journey to Mars - saving you months in space and the attendant wasting of muscles and bones, as well as sparing you from the potentially deadly "sunburn" cosmic rays might give you.
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