Usually on larger maps, at some point you'll find an otherwise-empty gravity well or two with a cloudy yellow ring in it when you zoom out, and that appears to be empty but after a second fills with a bright nebula-like formation when you zoom in. Check the info-panel by hovering your mouse over the object: it's a wormhole. The wormhole research allows you to have your fleet enter that wormhole and appear at a different one somewhere else. It's great for getting behind enemy lines if the "exit" wormhole is elsewhere in the solar system... and a pain if one is in your own empire's back door because you have to watch it (although the AI isn't really very good at exploiting it.
Long Range Jumps are only good for maps that have more than one star. If you're playing a map that has only one star as you zoom out as far as you can, DO NOT RESEARCH THIS: it's a complete waste of money. However, if you do have more than one star, Long Range Jumps allow your ships to jump from star-gravwell to star-gravwell.
Enjoy the game.
-- Retro
