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| Redstar 2002-11-14, 9:04 am |
| Is time travel possible? | |
| enforcer 2002-11-14, 9:34 am |
| I'll tell you yesterday | |
| gr33nd4yg1rl 2002-11-14, 9:38 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
I'll tell you yesterday
yesterday is tomorrow! | |
| NetChild1985 2002-11-14, 9:42 am |
| quote:
Is time travel possible?
Who knows?  | |
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| thecomeons 2002-11-14, 9:56 am |
| howelse could i have passed my a+ exams, but by taking them - failing them, remembering the questions and looking them up on braindumps, travelling back in time and giving myself the questions, looked up the answers and passed the exam. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-14, 10:05 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by thecomeons
perhaps some paper mcses ar time travellers. instead of visiting braindumps before the exam, they took each test and failed and went back in time and told themselves the questions and looked up the answers in dumps after.
perhaps you can go back in time and edit this to make sense | |
| ashlateef 2002-11-14, 10:14 am |
| perhaps you can go back in time and edit this to make sense
__________________
lololol | |
| kate39 2002-11-14, 11:04 am |
| hey dude, i've read b*ttloads of physics and cosmology-type books. it seems to me like it's possible, although nobody would survive it unless they were made out of light particles, which travel at 186,000 miles a second. but even light doesn't escape black holes. sO.. that gets you to the 4th Dimension topic. it's Timeless, and mathematically exists, apparently. are black holes really time warps to the 4th Dimension? ..well, nobody'll know until they turn into a light particle; and then they won't know they're a light particle.
have you ever read 2001 a space odyssey?
| |
| ruscorp 2002-11-14, 11:07 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
Is time travel possible?
Of course it is, haven't you seen "Back to the Future"? | |
| enforcer 2002-11-14, 11:14 am |
| not yet, but i have done in the past | |
| Boulware5 2002-11-14, 11:19 am |
| I heard it's possible to go back in time but not forward. We just dont got the technology yet. You got to be able to travel faster than the speed of light. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-14, 11:23 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Boulware5
You got to be able to travel faster than the speed of light.
that'll be a cinch then. I'll just meander over to my shed and put something together now then.  | |
| ruscorp 2002-11-14, 11:27 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
that'll be a cinch then. I'll just meander over to my shed and put something together now then.
If enforcer could just get his car avatar up to 88MPH we could time travel. | |
| MistyRing 2002-11-14, 11:36 am |
| quote:
I heard it's possible to go back in time but not forward.
When you say "I heard", who from exactly???
If time travel were ever to become possible, then surely there would be people from the future appearing all over the place? | |
| ruscorp 2002-11-14, 11:38 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by MistyRing
When you say "I heard", who from exactly???
If time travel were ever to become possible, then surely there would be people from the future appearing all over the place?
Michael J. Fox told me. | |
| Boulware5 2002-11-14, 11:55 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by MistyRing
When you say "I heard", who from exactly???
If time travel were ever to become possible, then surely there would be people from the future appearing all over the place?
I don't know from who. Just various television programs and stuff I have read. I think some believe it's theoretically possible but we don't have the means right now.
Here's something about it from Dr. Michio Kaku (brilliant guy who has appeared on the screen savers show):
http://www.flash.net/~csmith0/time.htm | |
| gr33nd4yg1rl 2002-11-14, 12:01 pm |
| yesterday is history
tomorrow is a mystery
today is present
that's why it's called a gift!
SURPRISE! | |
| enforcer 2002-11-14, 2:58 pm |
| maybe time travel is possible, but only to the future, unfortunately you can't get back, that's why there is no one from the future here. | |
| Boulware5 2002-11-14, 3:43 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
maybe time travel is possible, but only to the future, unfortunately you can't get back, that's why there is no one from the future here.
Not entirely true. You may theoretically be able to go in the past too. THEORETICALLY being the key word; it's not like we can do this right now. Here's some interesting snippets from the howstuffworks web site about it:
According to Einstein's theory of special relativity, time slows as an object approaches the speed of light. This leads many scientists to believe that traveling faster than the speed of light could open up the possibility of time travel to the past as well as to the future. The problem is that the speed of light is believed to be the highest speed at which something can travel, so it is unlikely that we will be able to travel into the past. As an object nears the speed of light, its relativistic mass increases until, at the speed of light, it becomes infinite. Accelerating an infinite mass any faster than that is impossible, or at least it seems to be right now.
But time travel in the other direction is not as difficult, and the future may one day be a possible destination...
Thorne believes there could be another type of tunnel-like structure existing in the universe that could be used for a time travel portal. Wormholes, also called Einstein-Rosen Bridges, are considered to have the most potential for time travel if they do exist. Not only could they allow us to travel through time, they could allow us to travel many light-years from Earth in only a fraction of the amount of time that it would take us with conventional space travel methods.
If wormholes could be discovered, it might allow us to travel to the past as well as the future. Here's how it would work: Let's say the mouth of the wormhole is portable. Then person B in the example above, who traveled at 50 percent of light speed into space for a few hours, could carry one wormhole mouth into space, while the mouth at the opposite end of the wormhole would stay with person A on Earth. The two people would continue to see one another as person B traveled into space. When person B returned to Earth a few hours later, a few years may have passed for person A. Now, when person A looks through the wormhole that traveled into space, that person will see him or herself at a younger age, the age he or she was when person B launched into space. The cool thing about it is that the older person A would be able to step into the past by entering the wormhole, while the younger person B could step into the future.
Yet another theory for how we might travel back and forth through time uses the idea of cosmic strings, proposed by Princeton physicist J. Richard Gott in 1991. These are -- as their name suggests -- string-like objects that some scientists believe were formed in the early universe. These strings may line the entire length of the universe and are under immense pressure -- millions upon millions of tons.
These cosmic strings, which are thinner than an atom, would generate an enormous amount of gravitational pull on any objects that pass near them. Objects attached to a cosmic string could travel at incredible speeds, and because their gravitational force distorts spacetime, they could be used for time travel. By pulling two cosmic strings close together, or one string close to a black hole, it might be possible to warp spacetime enough to create closed time-like curves.
A spacecraft could be turned into a time machine by using the gravity produced by the two cosmic strings, or the string and black hole, to propel itself into the past. To do this, it would loop around the cosmic strings. However, there is still much speculation as to whether these strings exist, and if they do, in what form. Gott himself said that in order to travel back in time even one year, it would take a loop of string that contained half the mass-energy of an entire galaxy. And, as with any time machine, you couldn't go back farther than the point at which the time machine was created.
If we are ever able to develop a workable theory for time travel, we would open up the ability to create very complicated problems called paradoxes. A paradox is defined as something that contradicts itself. Here are two common examples:
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you could travel back to a time before you were born. The mere fact that you could exist in a time before you were born creates a paradox. If you were born in 1960, how could you exist in 1955?
Possibly the most famous paradox is the grandfather paradox. What would happen if a time traveler went back and killed one of his or her ancestors before the traveler was born? If the person killed his or her grandfather, then how could that person be alive to go back and kill his or her grandfather? If we could change the past, it would create an infinite number of paradoxes.
Another theory regarding time travel brings up the idea of parallel universes, or alternative histories. Let's say that you do travel back to meet your grandfather when he was a boy. In the theory of parallel universes, you may have traveled to another universe, one that is similar to ours, but has a different succession of events. For instance, if you were to travel back in time and kill one of your ancestors, you've only killed that person in one universe, which is no longer the universe that you exist in. And if you then try to travel back to your own time, you may end up in another parallel universe and never be able to get back to the universe you started in. | |
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| loopbacklady 2002-11-14, 4:52 pm |
| Whoa, I gotta sit down, I'm feelin' a bit woozy...need...alcohol compress...I'll just apply it internally and things will be all better tomorrow! | |
| RichardJW 2002-11-14, 5:24 pm |
| Time travel is a misnomer. You travel through space but you speed up or slow down time. That doesn't make any sense either - speed up time and off we go to the future - but slow it down and just hang around near the present. Doesn't make sense this, so reverse the direction of time and then speed it up: hello past tense! Whoops, new problem: reverse the direction of time and people start walking and talking backwards - no fun at all. Ditch this line of logic completely: if it's time travel hell or bust we'll just make of time a kind of ticking space - maybe invent a theory of perpetual simultaneity - better still deny it exists at all and start from the most rudimentary basics.
Pipe dreaming scientists having absorbed one too many Star trek episodes and nothing useful to do. | |
| Luchnia 2002-11-14, 5:34 pm |
| I am curious, maybe someone can answer my question. If you have to travel at light speed or faster to travel through time, then why doesn't lightning change time by going into another period of time?
Doesn't it start at one time and end at another, but remain in this period of time? So just how fast would you have to travel in light before you transverse time?
If you answer this, then you are one step closer to time travel. | |
| RichardJW 2002-11-14, 5:43 pm |
| quote:
I am curious, maybe someone can answer my question. If you have to travel at light speed or faster to travel through time, then why doesn't lightning change time by going into another period of time?
Doesn't it start at one time and end at another, but remain in this period of time? So just how fast would you have to travel in light before you transverse time?
If you answer this, then you are one step closer to time travel.
No matter what speed you travel at, the speed of light is a constant. Therefore you can follow the direction of travel for a light beam at say 50,000 m.p.s. but the light beam will still be travelling away from you at 186,000 m.p.s. aka the velocity of light. I read it in a book.
Tick-Tock | |
| kate39 2002-11-14, 5:50 pm |
| I am curious, maybe someone can answer my question. If you have to travel at light speed or faster to travel through time, then why doesn't lightning change time by going into another period of time?
Doesn't it start at one time and end at another, but remain in this period of time? So just how fast would you have to travel in light before you transverse time?
If you answer this, then you are one step closer to time travel.
==========
traveling through time involves traveling in a different Dimension from the one we're in. that's a problem. we're in the '3D' and we need to be in some other one, possibly '4D.'
maybe lightning does time-travel. but we have no real way of knowing since we're stuck in this dimention/dimension. there are lots of things out there that we don't know about because they're not visible to us in 3D. iow, we're a bit limited.
light travels at 186,000 miles per second. so i guess you'd have to travel that fast, somehow. i think it's possible that the answer lies through the other side of the black holes, which only light can travel through intact (far as i know). so if you turned yourself into a lightbeam and got sucked into a black hole, you may well be sucked into another dimension- another Universe- at the other side. but we don't know. the only thing left in a lightbeam is energy (hence einstein's famous E).. humans are no longer human at the lightbeam stage, unfortunately. we'd have to figure out how to turn a lightbeam into a human somehow hehehe.. | |
| RichardJW 2002-11-14, 5:59 pm |
| That is quite interesting but here Science falls silent. In fact, Science pokes its nose in areas that it shouldn't simply because at that point it is no longer Science. Science relies on empiricism and if you can't devise an experiment then you've stepped over the boundary into mere speculation. Science does have a word on passing through black holes however, you won't be alive on the other side. | |
| kate39 2002-11-14, 6:42 pm |
| yeah, that's the boring part of science, maybe. but i believe that if you dream it, it can exist; the wave of possibilites is endless, no?
| |
| Luchnia 2002-11-14, 7:03 pm |
| Hhmmm...then is it true that as light reaches a large mass the time continuim slows down? I would think that TRUE science was there before and false science might be the one that poked its nose in the wrong place. True science was there in the beginning and agrees with the beginning.
Thinking about light and time travel, it would seem that when a body moves it changes space and time if we follow the theory that space and time are dynamic qualities. Even the very choices we make down to the very words we speak affect everyone and space and time, even if in a miniscule way, thus becomes a part of time. Think about it, we are always present tense in time, we cannot ever be anywhere else in time but present.
So then, traveling at light speed would not traverse time as much as the effects of gravity and body movement actually affect the dynamics of space and time?
Lets look at that lightning bolt again. Everything in the universe affects space and time, so that lightning bolt is not going into another dimension. It has merely traveled from point A to point B at a near finite rate (some think finite, maybe so, I can't remember), due to the fact of the large mass that operates upon it (cause it to occur). Indeed, it all boils down to what standards this is all measured by.
I can see this all leans toward theoretical physics, but hey once you really understand when, where, and how it all came, you are enlightened.
However hard you try, dreaming it doesn't bring it to exist. Dreams exist in the hollows of the fleshly mind. Words create. Once they go forth and action follows they are manifested into the physical. Words have created since the beginning of time, and time and space are controlled by them. Thus words create, the body reacts, and space and time obeys.
Interesting question that Einstein once asked: "How much choice did God have in constructing the universe?"
Peace | |
| kate39 2002-11-14, 7:16 pm |
| Interesting question that Einstein once asked: "How much choice did God have in constructing the universe?"
Peace
========
i remember that quote
some things come down to - just 'being.' another great question was the one that goes 'what's the meaning of life?' well, i would answer 'being.' but, then again, maybe i'm a dreamer. but seriously,
i think god just iS, and is made up of...
infinite truths. hence, science and our quest for infinite truths - !!! hehehe..
 | |
| Redstar 2002-11-14, 10:31 pm |
| But, here's what gets me. They say that if you time travel you will be at the same place but at a different time, correct? That creates a problem being the case the earth moves. So, if one really were to time travel and I'm not saying that it's not possible, but how will one find the earth again? Assuming of course you had a space suit on. | |
| kate39 2002-11-14, 10:57 pm |
| But, here's what gets me. They say that if you time travel you will be at the same place but at a different time, correct? That creates a problem being the case the earth moves. So, if one really were to time travel and I'm not saying that it's not possible, but how will one find the earth again? Assuming of course you had a space suit on
=================
no. have you ever heard of the space/time continuum? well, it's like this. space and time cannot be separated. this means that they are one whole, not two separate parts. there is no time without space and vice versa. you can't travel through time without traveling through space; it has to do with the 'arrow of time' going in one direction. (hehe). i'm assuming that if we ever become intelligent enough to time- travel, we'll be intelligent enough to Index the planetary system and other universes, etc. like 1's and 0's ..hehe - that's a good one, though. | |
| thecomeons 2002-11-15, 2:39 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by RichardJW
No matter what speed you travel at, the speed of light is a constant. Therefore you can follow the direction of travel for a light beam at say 50,000 m.p.s. but the light beam will still be travelling away from you at 186,000 m.p.s. aka the velocity of light. I read it in a book.
Tick-Tock
did somebody not say that the speed of light could be affected by gravity? or am i remembering black hole theory here? | |
| iggy4270 2002-11-15, 3:02 am |
| I go back so far, I'm in front of me.  | |
| enforcer 2002-11-15, 4:01 am |
| if you travel faster than the speed of light, you are not going to see what's in front of you till it's behind you. however if you can't see it before you get to it you're gonna hit it, and hitting anything at lightspeed+ is gonna hurt like hell.
Webmaster can we have a new cert forum Light+, thanks | |
| Luchnia 2002-11-15, 6:44 am |
| thecomeons, excellent point.
Indeed, light is affected by many things, one being darkness and size of mass. As you pointed out gravity as well, but that being stronger in areas of significant amounts of gravity. Personally, I think gravity affects time more than light.
It appears that mass affects the dynamics of space and time in a powerful way and it is not as the "great" scientist believed it to be. True science is on the money, so to speak.
Think about light for a moment. Light is affected by objects, but not overtaken by them. If there is enough light, then the object is pierced through and the elements exposed. The brighter the light the more objects appear, so this clearly shows that the object affects the light, or the light affects the object. Which is it?
Here is an example. When you go to bed and wake up in the morning, if you get up before dawn, notice how your eyes magnify the light or dissiminate the speed. You cannot clearly distinguish the darkness. The darkness of objects affect the light you see, but does not overcome that light.
Take a look at your dresser. As light approaches all you can see is the dresser, then more light, and you see the things on the dresser, then more light and you can even see the dust particles floating in the air. These dust particles are there all along, your eyes just did not allow enough light to expose them. If your eyes were able to magnify all light, it would appear that the light moved faster, became brighter, and you would even see the particles that made up the dresser.
Here is were scientist miss it, they don't understand light and the creator of light, if they did it would be quite simple to them, and black holes would not be a big deal at all.
Man will keep searching for his existance and the reason for his being. | |
| thecomeons 2002-11-15, 6:57 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
if you travel faster than the speed of light, you are not going to see what's in front of you till it's behind you.
surely if you have passed something at the speed of light, the light reflecting off it must travel atleast twice speed of light for you to see it behind you. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-15, 8:00 am |
| before we get too far ahead of ourselves.
ooops! too late for that.
Can anyone define time? | |
| loopbacklady 2002-11-15, 8:03 am |
| about 8 AM here... | |
| Redstar 2002-11-15, 8:27 am |
| When it was 7 AM here, that means I could see you before you could see me...
Interesting about that moving with light, but am I not correct that the earth is moving some odd million miles per second? But nothing can travel faster than the speed of light which is 186,000 MPH?
Humm! Earth traveling some odd billon miles per second = nothing faster than 186,000 MPH?
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| Redstar 2002-11-15, 9:28 am |
| Oh okay, is it per second and not per hour that light travels?
You still got the earth moving at billions of miles per second though...
Right? | |
| enforcer 2002-11-15, 9:43 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
Oh okay, is it per second and not per hour that light travels?
You still got the earth moving at billions of miles per second though...
Right?
I don't think so, lets do the maths
the circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,902 mi
therefore the earth travel at 24,902 miles a day
therefore the earth travels at 1037.58 miles an hour
therefore the earth travels at 17.29 miles a minute
therefore the earth travels at 0.288 miles a second
http://www.lyberty.com/encyc/articles/earth.html | |
| MistyRing 2002-11-15, 10:45 am |
| quote:
Can anyone define time?
No but the definition of eternity is the the time between you coming and her going -  | |
| kate39 2002-11-15, 12:22 pm |
| Enforcer said:
Can anyone define time?
==========
time is the Distance Between Two Points -!
time only exists between two points. thus, the second is called the second because time only starts theRe, at the _second point! heheh..
| |
| Redstar 2002-11-15, 4:54 pm |
| Ah! but you forget: the earth is traveling around our sun which in turn is traveling around (in theory) a twin star which is also in theory a black star. Anyway, those two suns are traveling around with the Milky Way Galaxy which is also moving...
I would say the earth is moving a little faster than .288 miles a second. | |
| Redstar 2002-11-15, 5:16 pm |
| I also don’t know about that time moving in a arrow thing.
Suppose town A and town B are exactly 60 miles apart. I start out in town A and travel a constant 60 MPH, at the end of one hour I would be in town B. I then use my trusty time machine which is the car with me and travel back in time one hour. Would I then be in town A or town B? According the time arrow thing I should be back in town A.
Sound silly you say? The earth is at 12 Noon at point A, it travels for one hour at some odd billon miles per second and arrives at point B. According to the time arrow thing if I were to then travel back in time to 12 Noon I should be back at point A and not point B. | |
| kate39 2002-11-15, 6:36 pm |
| hmmmm. that's very confusing. the arrow of time's much less confusing, thank god, or i would never be able to grasp it . well, the arrow of time means that when you drop a cup it shatters rather than the reverse, which would be that the pieces all come together to form a cup in your hand. that's the arrow of time, going in one direction only. if it went the other way we'd grow young instead of old! as for point A and point B=
well, you're going 60mph and it's 60 miles between A and B. you get to B in one hour. your car/timemachine takes you back one hour from where you are at point B, right? well, then you'd be at point B one hour prior to when you left point A. ..but here's the catch. you'd have to travel through a different dimension (the timeless, 4D) to get to that 'point.' so, in fact it wouLd be traveling through space, although you were thinking you'd end-up at point A, it would in fact be point B via the 4th Dimension! good god i've confused myself. glad i picked computers over physics -!
| |
| RichardJW 2002-11-15, 6:51 pm |
| Bloody hell! | |
|
| TO think this thread didn't start off complicated. | |
| kate39 2002-11-15, 7:21 pm |
| Is time travel possible?
| |
| RichardJW 2002-11-15, 7:25 pm |
| And the answer is no. | |
| kate39 2002-11-15, 7:38 pm |
| And the answer is no.
=====================
in that case, what's black matter made out of? i think it's antimatter. | |
| kate39 2002-11-15, 9:04 pm |
| and i think time travel iS possible, especially in meditation.
 | |
| Redstar 2002-11-15, 9:25 pm |
| Now, you lost me... | |
| Boulware5 2002-11-15, 9:40 pm |
| I think time travel is definately possible. | |
| kate39 2002-11-15, 9:53 pm |
| I think time travel is definately possible.
===============
me, too. | |
| Redstar 2002-11-15, 11:29 pm |
| Me believes in it too, me travel exactly one minute forward each minute. | |
| kate39 2002-11-16, 12:28 am |
| Me believes in it too, me travel exactly one minute forward each minute.
=======================
time is relative/slippery; when you're having a bad day it can be years, when you're having a good time your life flies by. in the end, time is pretty much like the waves of the ocean- and both are affected by gravity. time exists because space exists. if the universe/god is infinite, isn't time?
therefore it's meaningless in the grander view of things to think that time travel's impossible -! (it doesn't really exist!)
| |
| ccaya 2002-11-16, 12:31 am |
| Isn't that contradicting. If time travel is possible then you must exist (fyi - see other thread) lol | |
| kate39 2002-11-16, 12:40 am |
| Isn't that contradicting. If time travel is possible then you must exist (fyi - see other thread) lol
=================
contradicting?? mE?
i must exist in some form or other, yes. but not necessarily in this body, mind, or world. i think that life is in fact a projection upon the grander self, the brahman, or god if you will. i think that i'm a changing manifestation on the unchanging, timeless truth which is god. therefore, i don't really exist. i am just a projection of god.
 | |
| ccaya 2002-11-16, 12:45 am |
| oh, now I understand, wait nope, you lost me again. | |
| kate39 2002-11-16, 12:49 am |
| oh, f*ckit! ..thank god i met my husband.
| |
| RichardJW 2002-11-16, 4:50 am |
| Nobody really knows if time travel is possible - but if it was then it could definitely get patented as the anti-aging formula for your friends and family. You on the other hand grow old but not to the gently whizzing beetle offset in time just that little bit more than you. | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-16, 6:44 am |
| quote:
Hhmmm...then is it true that as light reaches a large mass the time continuim slows down?
Not just light but matter. Mass can also bend space. Is time travel possible?
Go ask a tachyon.
I would rather know what a quantum mechanic keeps in his tool box? | |
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| kate39 2002-11-16, 2:07 pm |
| Is time travel possible?
Sure, we are all traveling through time
==========================
that's amazingly simple, yet i don't think anyone else has brought that up until now.
heheh..
| |
| Redstar 2002-11-16, 6:38 pm |
| It's Quantum Leap and Back to the Future all rolled into one. | |
| kate39 2002-11-16, 7:46 pm |
| Not just light but matter. Mass can also bend space. Is time travel possible?
==============================
=====
mass definitely bends space. you can see that a large-mass object like Jupiter bends the 'space' around it (consult stephen hawking if you doubt this theory.) this also means that Time is 'bent,' or curved around areas of the universe that have a heavy mass. maybe that's a clue in time-travel. ..just a hunch -!
| |
| azimuth40 2002-11-17, 6:38 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by HOOLIGAN
Not just light but matter. Mass can also bend space. Is time travel possible?
Go ask a tachyon.
I would rather know what a quantum mechanic keeps in his tool box?
Sonic screwdriver, jelly babies, a telephone punchdown tool, and the London listings if you watched Dr. Who | |
| azimuth40 2002-11-17, 6:41 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by kate39
Not just light but matter. Mass can also bend space. Is time travel possible?
==============================
=====
mass definitely bends space. you can see that a large-mass object like Jupiter bends the 'space' around it (consult stephen hawking if you doubt this theory.) this also means that Time is 'bent,' or curved around areas of the universe that have a heavy mass. maybe that's a clue in time-travel. ..just a hunch -!
Hmmm, Person to Quantum Mechanic, "Do you have the time", answer "sure, get bent". Sounds about right. | |
| fmusick 2002-11-17, 9:33 am |
| First thing's first. By time travelling do you mean backwards, forwards or both? If you mean forward, you're doing it now. If you mean backward, then no. You can however slow time and in theory travel without experiencing time. This is all based on the equation of time dilation. As you speed up time (for you) is effected. If you travel to Alpha Proxima and back at 180,000 miles per second (and survive somehow), you would have aged about 9 years. Everyone you left would be long dead (by about 10,000 years I believe). This is a tested equation although not at these speeds (an atomic clock in an airplane and one on the ground will be measurably off after a few hours). The equation gets very interesting as you get closer to the speed of light. It zeroes out. In other words (theoretically) if you reached the speed of light, you could travel anywhere in the universe and not experience time. Now, time would still be moving and so when you stopped it would be thousands or millions of years later but you would not have been effected. The same would hold if you could somehow warp space. Basically, it would be very nice to travel through space at incredible speeds but you would never see anyone you knew on earth again.
On a separate note (VERY ROUGH ESTIMATE), relative to the Virgo cluster of galaxies, the Earth travels 40 million kilometers per day or roughly 300 miles per second. | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-17, 2:24 pm |
| quote:
Sonic screwdriver, jelly babies, a telephone punchdown tool, and the London listings if you watched Dr. Who
From behind the sofa when i was a little.
Scary stuff. | |
| kate39 2002-11-17, 2:47 pm |
| Dr. Who
=======
i was a young thing when thAt was still on tv. my mom wouldn't let me watch it, so when i went to friend's houses.. yeah, i saw it looking out from between my fingers.
i've wondered what was so appealing about actually watching it. probably the fobidden fruit thing.
| |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-17, 4:15 pm |
| naw , I think we just like having the crap scared out of us. | |
| kate39 2002-11-17, 9:23 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by fmusick
First thing's first. By time travelling do you mean backwards, forwards or both? If you mean forward, you're doing it now. If you mean backward, then no. You can however slow time and in theory travel without experiencing time. This is all based on the equation of time dilation.
time is just a loop? /both forwards and backwards. but the problem i'm having here is this: am i wrong in thinking that all past and present exist in the now? we're just traveling on a path that won't let us see behind or in front. ?? if you think of time, think of some favorite party or something you went to in the past. in that past you are still at that party. hence, michael j. fox meeting-up with himself, etc. so if that is possible somehow (flux capacitor?) doesn't that mean we could travel into the future as well as the past?
| |
| Redstar 2002-11-17, 9:36 pm |
| If time stops at the speed of light, wouldn't the light then be suspended in mid air? | |
| kate39 2002-11-17, 9:43 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
If time stops at the speed of light, wouldn't the light then be suspended in mid air?
time 'stops' as you hit 186,000 miles per second velocity.
have you ever seen light shining through a window, and there's all that dust swirling around in the light ray? the light iS suspended, i'd say. or, rather, it appears that way to a human observer.
| |
| enforcer 2002-11-18, 3:51 am |
| to be able to say whether time travel is possible, you have to be able to prove time exists.
time is something that man has devised. do you seen any other living object wearing a watch?
oh and to prove time exists, you first of all have to prove that you exist, and all this is not just a dream | |
| RichardJW 2002-11-18, 4:26 am |
| quote:
have you ever seen light shining through a window, and there's all that dust swirling around in the light ray? the light iS suspended, i'd say. or, rather, it appears that way to a human observer.
Light is invisible if observation is made at 90 degrees to the direction of travel for light. Light is most visible staring directly into the source. Again light is not visible at 180 degrees from the source except for the reflection of light against objects. It is a consequence of the motion of radiation in the direction of your observation that produces visible light (though that is simply a part of the entire light spectrum - there is also ultraviolet rays etc. etc.) Put simply, it would seem to me that staring into a light source as you travelled away from that source at the speed of light would be a pretty dark experience.
Note: Of course according to relativity theory such a thing is not possible - no matter what your velocity the velocity of light (in a vacuum) is a constant. | |
| msandland 2002-11-18, 4:36 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
Is time travel possible?
Travel into the past is not only theoretically possible, but theoretically easy. Anyone can make a time machine in their own garden shed or on their own kitchen table, and you don't even need to know any physics!
Here's what you do...
1. Decide to go.
2. Decide to build a time machine.
3. Collect the instructions for you time machine from an appropriate place, eg. your shed.
4. Build the machine.
5. Use the machine to travel back in time.
6. Now the clever bit - while you're back there in the past, leave a copy of the instructions on how to build a time machine in you're shed, ready to pick up in your future when you decide to build a time machine...
Easy! :-) | |
| RichardJW 2002-11-18, 4:40 am |
| This is good! In fact watertight, because if you don't have a shed then whilst back in the past - build one - so that when you wake up in the morning - there you are - brand new shed! | |
| MistyRing 2002-11-18, 6:49 am |
| It's not just animals that have no concept of time. Native Australians didn't either. In fact there is no word in the Aboriginal language for "tomorrow". | |
| enforcer 2002-11-18, 6:57 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by MistyRing
It's not just animals that have no concept of time.
Nor does the builder who is supposed to be fixing my guttering
quote:
Originally posted by MistyRing
In fact there is no word in the Aboriginal language for "tomorrow".
however he does know the word tomorrow, because that's all he say's "I'll fix it tomorrow" when i say the next day "where are you", he replies "Is it tomorrow?" | |
| Redstar 2002-11-18, 8:53 am |
| If animals have no concept of time then how come my cat goes to bed at the same time each day and gets up at the same time? He does other things acording to were the sun is in the sky too! When the time changes it throws him for a loop and he gets confused.
I'd say he has a concept of time, why wear a watch when he has the sun to tell time? | |
| enforcer 2002-11-18, 9:43 am |
| stick him in a deep dark room and then see if he does everything the same 'time' each day | |
| MistyRing 2002-11-18, 11:31 am |
| In my experience when cats go to sleep or get up has bugger all to do with what time of day it is. | |
| kate39 2002-11-18, 11:56 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
If animals have no concept of time then how come my cat goes to bed at the same time each day and gets up at the same time? He does other things acording to were the sun is in the sky too!
time is really a human concept.
your cat is intelligent enough to know your schedule and how things work. they are adaptable to us and our concept of time. this doesn't mean that they know that time exists. time comes with intelligence. time basically only exists for us humans.
sure, cats know that seasons change. this doesn't mean that they know that time is passing. it's inborn knowledge that when you smell this smell (etc.) it means build a warm bed somewhere (winter).
i don't think animals (other than humans) have a concept of time. when domesticated, i think they adapt to their human owners living in a world where time exists. they may be intelligent and curious, but that doesn't mean they're not basically run by instincts.
| |
| azimuth40 2002-11-18, 12:17 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by kate39
time is really a human concept.
i don't think animals (other than humans) have a concept of time. when domesticated, i think they adapt to their human owners living in a world where time exists. they may be intelligent and curious, but that doesn't mean they're not basically run by instincts.
I am pretty shure that I have read scientic studies that disagree with you. The same kinds of studies that proved the existance of a biological clock in humans by placing them in a cave. Unfortunately I can not place a location.
I think many people that own a dog can tell you that they know when children are due home from school. You might say that that they may smell soured milk and candy in the air. However the previous sentence does not explain owners in a car even when they are late. A dog will figit at the appropriate time and seem to wonder where their master is.
My wife travels several days a week but my dog knows the day when she will return down to the apointed time. Granted it is the same day every week but whatever that instinct is it involves the passage of time somehow in the equation. Unless you want to go the telepaty route which some use to explain it.
Several of humans theories about what animals can't do have been disproven in the last few years.
My personal belief on this is that all livings things sense time as changes in the surrounding magnetic fields. It has already been proven the carrier pigions can not home if you place a simple toy magnet on their head. In humans we probably would give it a fancy name like instinct. | |
| kate39 2002-11-18, 12:49 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by azimuth40 My personal belief on this is that all livings things sense time as changes in the surrounding magnetic fields. It has already been proven the carrier pigions can not home if you place a simple toy magnet on their head. In humans we probably would give it a fancy name like instinct.
animals have very short-term memories. they don't remember last year, they don't remember yesterday. they live in the Eternal Now, etc. when they're hungry they look for food. when they're thirsty they drink. (and instincts tell them to store nuts for the winter.) they may have some 'natural' (ie innate/inborn) ability to judge that when the sun's this high it means there will be lots more fish in the river. when the sun's here, billy comes home and when it's gone it's time for bed, etc.
i don't know what magnets have to do with time, but somebody can explain it to me if they want to. sounds kinda crazy.
| |
| RichardJW 2002-11-18, 1:39 pm |
| I think dogs and things remember stuff from way back. We had a dog a long time ago that lived on a farm for a year and when I went to see it it definitely recognised me - i.e. was excited for seeing me. Now you know how to differentiate that recognition from just curiosity in meeting a person so enough said. A lot of what people do is akin to the behaviour of an automaton too so I wouldn't say that our behaviour is too different from fishing around for nuts a lot of the time either.
Magnets and time? Sense time as a change in magnetic fields? Huh? I can understand that spatially - and if the earth's magnetic poles really are reversing then the ability for birds to navigate may be one of the first things to suffer. Birds also navigate with the stars which is no different to how it was done 100 years ago at sea. | |
| kate39 2002-11-18, 1:42 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by RichardJW I think dogs and things remember stuff from way back. We had a dog a long time ago that lived on a farm for a year and when I went to see it it definitely recognised me - i.e. was excited for seeing me. Now you know how to differentiate that recognition from just curiosity in meeting a person so enough said. A lot of what people do is akin to the behaviour of an automaton too so I wouldn't say that our behaviour is too different from fishing around for nuts a lot of the time either.
yeah. good point. | |
|
| The dinosaurs were wiped out after humans travelled back in time and introduced diseases that were deadly to them.It was actually Baldrics underwear that contained the contamination! | |
| kate39 2002-11-18, 6:02 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by foggy
The dinosaurs were wiped out after humans travelled back in time and introduced diseases that were deadly to them.It was actually Baldrics underwear that contained the contamination!
yeah, well, what was the cause of human extinction then? dirty alien underwear or our failure to adapt?
| |
| azimuth40 2002-11-18, 6:47 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by kate39
animals have very short-term memories. they don't remember last year, they don't remember yesterday. they live in the Eternal Now, etc. when they're hungry they look for food. when they're thirsty they drink. (and instincts tell them to store nuts for the winter.) they may have some 'natural' (ie innate/inborn) ability to judge that when the sun's this high it means there will be lots more fish in the river. when the sun's here, billy comes home and when it's gone it's time for bed, etc.
i don't know what magnets have to do with time, but somebody can explain it to me if they want to. sounds kinda crazy.
I disagree with your premise totally. Animals born into captivity do not store nuts for the winter. Animals captured after full growth will store nuts for the winter. There is more than instinct there, more like learned behavior. Humans have similar learned behaviors. Grab a book on memory and human pediactrics, you might be in for a surprise on how the human growth process is affected with the absence of experienced adults.
Another example is it has been proven that elephants remember specific events in their lives for many years such as the death of a mate or other family member.
Some authorities in the field believe that an elephants memory may very well exceed the capability of humans. What an elephant is able to do with that memory is limited which is why we probably have dominion over them. What I "believe" I see you doing here is mistaking intelligence for basic qualities that all mammals have. Memory and intelligence are not the same thing.
The U.S. Navy can give you detailed information on the long term memories of porpoises and whales, some of it however is top secret.
The magnetic field of the earth changes constantly, magnetic north changes constantly, the magnetic signature of the universe changes constantly. North and south have switched completely several times, geologists have proven.
Placing humans or other mammals in a magnetic shield for any length of time disrupts the biological clock. Many associate that clock with being aware of the passage of time. The heart and brain of birds fish and mammals generate slight magnetic fields. It is conceivable that those fields interact with the changing magnetic field of the earth.
It is now belived by some scientists that migration patterns have less to do with smelling a change in season as it does with changes in the earths magnetic field as positioned at a given point on earth. Those fields whould change as we move around the sun.
The magnetic on the head of a bird was done to try to find how an animal can migrate thousands of miles without getting lost.
Some theoretical physicists belive many secrets of the universe lie in what we DON'T know about magnetism. | |
| kate39 2002-11-18, 6:50 pm |
| go 4 posts up from this one. i agreed.
| |
| azimuth40 2002-11-18, 6:56 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by kate39
yeah, well, what was the cause of human extinction then? dirty alien underwear or our failure to adapt?
Sara Conner warned us about it.
Actually geneticists tell us that humans were almost wiped out. Humankind has a genetic compression that shows we were down to fewer than 10,000 some say as few as 1,000 persons at one point in history. Dare I mention Noah and the flood. More than likely though it was a germ.
Neanderthal is not a relative but a distinct species. Neanderthal was most likely wiped out by us. Did dirty alien underwear almost get us? Only the Klingons know for sure. Hmmm Klingon underwear, I don't even want to go there. | |
| kate39 2002-11-18, 7:16 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by azimuth40
Actually geneticists tell us that humans were almost wiped out. Humankind has a genetic compression that shows we were down to fewer than 10,000 some say as few as 1,000 persons at one point in history. Dare I mention Noah and the flood. More than likely though it was a germ.
Neanderthal is not a relative but a distinct species. Neanderthal was most likely wiped out by us. Did dirty alien underwear almost get us? Only the Klingons know for sure. Hmmm Klingon underwear, I don't even want to go there.
you know the plague/black death lasted 600 years!? or else it was 800! phenominal.
-!
i go with the theory that we wiped-out neanderthals. we were a link that broke off (moved over a mountain, possibly?) and the rest is darwinism.
klingon underwear. good gracious. let's not go there. -!
| |
| Redstar 2002-11-18, 9:15 pm |
| You apparently have never had a cat or dog live with you, for if you had you would know that what you are saying is not true! (I mean real close to you, get to know them)Each animal has it's own personality! But, I'm not going to worry about that anymore. For you would have to have a cat or dog to know. | |
| kate39 2002-11-18, 10:26 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
You apparently have never had a cat or dog live with you, for if you had you would know that what you are saying is not true! (I mean real close to you, get to know them)Each animal has it's own personality! But, I'm not going to worry about that anymore. For you would have to have a cat or dog to know.
sorry, redstar, i don't know who this is addressed to, by i will reply anyway.
i've had 2 dogs and about.. 20 cats in my lifetime (not to mention lots of small animals like mice, hampsters, and birds.) my 2 dogs died a while back (RIP little friends) and now just 4 cats and 10 fish (goldfish) left.
since i don't know if you're addressing me, this is silly if you're not. but anyway, here's my story:
i'm a vegetarian. have been a strict vegetarian for.. 7 years now. i don't believe in eating animals. i love animals, in fact and in example.
did you know that fish have personalities as well as domesticated pets? they do. i watch them a lot. there's this big fish, Nigel, he's my favorite. if he was a person he'd be a comedian. not to mention the two kittens, of course (part siamese.)
anyway, please let me know who you were talking to, RedStar; i feel like an *ss.
regards as always,
kate
| |
| enforcer 2002-11-19, 3:28 am |
| going back to my original point, about animals not knowing time. they do things at certain time influenced by their cureent enviroment, the sun and where it is, the smells they can smell, what other creatures are about including us humans, all of it is either learned through experience or instinctive. but they still have no idea of time. Time is a human invention, or a word to define something that we can't define. | |
| thecomeons 2002-11-19, 3:37 am |
| what about the white rabbit that realised he was late? the one that alice followed down the burrow. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-19, 4:07 am |
| you find him, I'll ask him | |
|
| My mother-in-laws dog can tell the time. Bang on 4 o'clock every day he's there waiting for his dinner. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-19, 6:56 am |
| that's coz he's 'king hungry
you should feed him more than once a day | |
|
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
that's coz he's 'king hungry
you should feed him more than once a day
The bleeding thing has Weetabix for breakfast. lol Spoilt or what.http://www.plauder-smilies.de/lach.gif | |
| enforcer 2002-11-19, 7:36 am |
| what's your dog's name Scooby Doo? | |
| Redstar 2002-11-19, 9:08 am |
| I was talking to those who said animals are like robots that act off instinct and don't know anything about time. Don't think it was you Kate39.
Animals are more than robots just wondering around. And even if it were true that they don't know anything about time (I don't agree) it doesn't matter. For we don't know or am aware if plant "X" exist around a uncharted star yet, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. | |
|
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
what's your dog's name Scooby Doo?
It's the mother-in-laws dog and his name is Ben. | |
| Greyhound 2002-11-20, 8:18 am |
| Time travel is definately possible. I even went back in time just yesterday. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-20, 8:42 am |
| if time travel is possible, could someone go back and change the name of this thread to 'what the cluck is going on'? | |
| msandland 2002-11-20, 10:21 am |
| Will any of this be on the exam? | |
| enforcer 2002-11-20, 10:28 am |
| you would have to travel forward in time to find out. | |
| Redstar 2002-11-20, 10:43 pm |
| "Will any of this be on the exam?"
Yes, it will be on the time travel+ exam!!!
| |
| enforcer 2002-11-21, 4:43 am |
| if you mix up the past with the future, does it become a fast or a pasture? | |
| Greyhound 2002-11-21, 8:35 am |
| Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
And where are we going? | |
| kate39 2002-11-21, 11:50 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Greyhound
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
And where are we going?
kerrist! looks like we're back to the beginning again.
| |
| MistyRing 2002-11-21, 12:06 pm |
| Remember when you were about 12 years old and you used to lie in bed thinking about this stuff. The after a couple of years you got tired of never really getting any further with the problem. So you gave up.
And that was fine until someone posted it on an IT forum and now it's like back to being 12 again!
Still at least I've got discovering big brother's porn mag collection to look forward to I suppose.... | |
| kate39 2002-11-21, 1:28 pm |
| yeah, well.. i've been having problems all day in the General and A+ forums:
when i post a reply, i don't show-up in the 'Last Post' column. i went to the 'Register' tab and i'm registered in both forums.
i just posted a thread concerning whether people could see my thread or not, and i can't see my thread myself.
i mean.. is there something i don't know?
What's up with that!?
kate39
| |
| kate39 2002-11-21, 4:31 pm |
| update: the webmaster says it's slow because of the holidays.
| |
| azimuth40 2002-11-21, 11:55 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by kate39
kerrist! looks like we're back to the beginning again.
Welp I guess that about sums up time travel dud-n-it! | |
| enforcer 2002-11-22, 3:42 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by kate39
update: the webmaster says it's slow because of the holidays.
what? the servers on holiday, you mean even machines have workers rights and benifits now? | |
| Redstar 2002-11-22, 8:27 am |
| "Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
And where are we going?"
Looks like you been reading my Calvin and Hobbies comic book again. Calvin answered that question with "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I came from my room, I'm a kid with big plans, and I'm going outside! See ya latter!" | |
|
| MartyMcFly should be able to shed some light on time travel, mate. Something to do with racing cars about and saving your parents, children, whatever. | |
| MartyMcFly 2003-01-29, 2:04 pm |
| Find me a DeLorean and I'll tell you all about it | |
| Redstar 2003-01-29, 3:48 pm |
| Ahh! Re starting a good thread!
I still say if one time travels in a car one would find one self in outer space, that being the case the earth moves. (As stated above)if you are in the same place but at a different time and the earth moves, where are you going to be? | |
| Redstar 2003-02-01, 11:44 am |
| This is when you do wish you could time travel. Go back in time and stop the space shuttle accident. For that matter, why not go back and stop the 9/11 incident. Or at least get all the people out. Which brings us to a question. What would you do if you could go back to 9/10/ and had the chance to stop the World Trade Center attack? | |
| enforcer 2003-02-03, 1:54 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
What would you do if you could go back to 9/10/ and had the chance to stop the World Trade Center attack?
eh? STOP the World Trade Center attack of course, what would you do? let it happen. | |
| Redstar 2003-02-03, 10:32 pm |
| Of course I would stop it, the question (and I guess I wasn't clear on it) is how would you stop it? | |
| enforcer 2003-02-04, 5:10 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
Of course I would stop it, the question (and I guess I wasn't clear on it) is how would you stop it?
now that's a different question.
How could you stop it? to be in a position to stop it you would have to know it was going to happen, and for that you would have to either be involved in the planing or be given information from someone who was involved.
No one person could have stopped it. the government agencies would have needed to have prior information and then have placed agents at the airports where the planes had taken off.
It is very difficult to stop terrorist activities | |
| Redstar 2003-02-04, 9:20 am |
| Your right! So, if one really did have access to a time machine you couldn't even stop it.
I mean think about it, suppose you went back in time to Sept. 10th 2001. What could you do? Go try and tell the president? Even if you did get through, what would you say? "I'm from the future and tomorrow morning these terrists are going to fly American plains into the World Trade Center and kill a bunch of people." He would think you were a nut case. It would be like trying to stop the Titanic from going down..
Now, here's a thought! you could take him into the future yourself, show him and then take him back. That's an idea... | |
| RichardJW 2003-02-06, 4:31 am |
| Of course they would think you are a nutcase. Now here's the solution: come back a good few years before that and work to get a job in surveillance. When you've done that then come up with hard evidence of the terrorist activities. People believe hard evidence. If you just go round saying you're from the future you will probably end up sitting opposite a psychiatrist sooner or later. | |
| enforcer 2003-02-06, 5:31 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by RichardJW
If you just go round saying you're from the future you will probably end up sitting opposite a psychiatrist sooner or later.
if your from the future it will be sooner, but if you're from the past it will be later. | |
| thecomeons 2003-02-06, 7:03 am |
| so, are the un investigators in iraq at the moment from the present or the future? | |
| enforcer 2003-02-06, 7:07 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by thecomeons
so, are the un investigators in iraq at the moment from the present or the future?
how do you uninvestigate something? | |
| thecomeons 2003-02-06, 7:22 am |
| sod ye | |
| enforcer 2003-02-06, 7:33 am |
| still using dos ey? you backward or somat | |
| Redstar 2003-02-06, 8:51 am |
| RichardJW
Now, there's a good thought! | |
| RichardJW 2003-02-07, 3:48 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Redstar
RichardJW
Now, there's a good thought!
It's just taking what Enforcer said to a logical conclusion. | |
| Tech Ranger 2003-02-07, 8:38 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Boulware5
Not entirely true. You may theoretically be able to go in the past too. THEORETICALLY being the key word; it's not like we can do this right now. Here's some interesting snippets from the howstuffworks web site about it:
According to Einstein's theory of special relativity, time slows as an object approaches the speed of light. This leads many scientists to believe that traveling faster than the speed of light could open up the possibility of time travel to the past as well as to the future. The problem is that the speed of light is believed to be the highest speed at which something can travel, so it is unlikely that we will be able to travel into the past. As an object nears the speed of light, its relativistic mass increases until, at the speed of light, it becomes infinite. Accelerating an infinite mass any faster than that is impossible, or at least it seems to be right now.
But time travel in the other direction is not as difficult, and the future may one day be a possible destination...
Thorne believes there could be another type of tunnel-like structure existing in the universe that could be used for a time travel portal. Wormholes, also called Einstein-Rosen Bridges, are considered to have the most potential for time travel if they do exist. Not only could they allow us to travel through time, they could allow us to travel many light-years from Earth in only a fraction of the amount of time that it would take us with conventional space travel methods.
If wormholes could be discovered, it might allow us to travel to the past as well as the future. Here's how it would work: Let's say the mouth of the wormhole is portable. Then person B in the example above, who traveled at 50 percent of light speed into space for a few hours, could carry one wormhole mouth into space, while the mouth at the opposite end of the wormhole would stay with person A on Earth. The two people would continue to see one another as person B traveled into space. When person B returned to Earth a few hours later, a few years may have passed for person A. Now, when person A looks through the wormhole that traveled into space, that person will see him or herself at a younger age, the age he or she was when person B launched into space. The cool thing about it is that the older person A would be able to step into the past by entering the wormhole, while the younger person B could step into the future.
Yet another theory for how we might travel back and forth through time uses the idea of cosmic strings, proposed by Princeton physicist J. Richard Gott in 1991. These are -- as their name suggests -- string-like objects that some scientists believe were formed in the early universe. These strings may line the entire length of the universe and are under immense pressure -- millions upon millions of tons.
These cosmic strings, which are thinner than an atom, would generate an enormous amount of gravitational pull on any objects that pass near them. Objects attached to a cosmic string could travel at incredible speeds, and because their gravitational force distorts spacetime, they could be used for time travel. By pulling two cosmic strings close together, or one string close to a black hole, it might be possible to warp spacetime enough to create closed time-like curves.
A spacecraft could be turned into a time machine by using the gravity produced by the two cosmic strings, or the string and black hole, to propel itself into the past. To do this, it would loop around the cosmic strings. However, there is still much speculation as to whether these strings exist, and if they do, in what form. Gott himself said that in order to travel back in time even one year, it would take a loop of string that contained half the mass-energy of an entire galaxy. And, as with any time machine, you couldn't go back farther than the point at which the time machine was created.
If we are ever able to develop a workable theory for time travel, we would open up the ability to create very complicated problems called paradoxes. A paradox is defined as something that contradicts itself. Here are two common examples:
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you could travel back to a time before you were born. The mere fact that you could exist in a time before you were born creates a paradox. If you were born in 1960, how could you exist in 1955?
Possibly the most famous paradox is the grandfather paradox. What would happen if a time traveler went back and killed one of his or her ancestors before the traveler was born? If the person killed his or her grandfather, then how could that person be alive to go back and kill his or her grandfather? If we could change the past, it would create an infinite number of paradoxes.
Another theory regarding time travel brings up the idea of parallel universes, or alternative histories. Let's say that you do travel back to meet your grandfather when he was a boy. In the theory of parallel universes, you may have traveled to another universe, one that is similar to ours, but has a different succession of events. For instance, if you were to travel back in time and kill one of your ancestors, you've only killed that person in one universe, which is no longer the universe that you exist in. And if you then try to travel back to your own time, you may end up in another parallel universe and never be able to get back to the universe you started in.
You can travel anywhere as long as the place to which you want to travel exists. You will never be able to travel to the past because the past does not exist. You will never be able to travel to the future because the future does not exist. The only time that exists now is now. How the hec can you travel to a destination that does not exist? | |
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