From warp drive to worm holes: How to scale distances in network prediction

As a comparative exobiologist, I see the world through the lens of evolution. Modelling the tempo and mode of evolutionary change can be done by scaling of evolutionary trees, altering relative distances among species according to some underlying process. When conducting comparative studies of species, scaling trees helps to flexibly incorporate evolutionary distances into our models. But as we explore strange new worlds, seek new life, and include physical distances in our comparative models, I ask myself, how do stellar cartographers scale these distances? Can spatial distance scaling inform evolutionary models, or vice versa? Is space really the final frontier?