[eightails]

I suppose an optimist would say that success, even at a tiny scale, would be a step in the right direction. But you're right, it could well be possible that the effect doesn't scale up.

I think gram-scale probes are definitely being considered -- though not with Alcubierre drives obviously lol. Breakthrough Starshot think they can transmit back from Alpha Centauri at 2.6-15 baud per watt by using their light sail as a laser reflector [0]. Pretty crazy.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot#Laser_da...