The possibility of time travel

[benzene]

Well I've always liked the idea of time travelling since I was a child (although as I'm only 15, it's not really saying much haha), and last night an idea came to me in a dream that could, given the right circumstances, allow time travel to happen. Now I don't remember the dream very well (despite my normal dream recall to be very good) but when I woke the idea was clear and very sensical. The idea is this: If you accept the possibilty of a multiverse made up of googolplexians of parallel and alternate-ending universes, there would be an almost certain possibility of that inside one of them, evolution started say an hour earlier than in the universe we presently reside but otherwise identical. If, by some amazing twist of fate, someone managed to travel to said universe, the person would (practically) be one hour in the future. If such a thing is possible, it opens a whole load of questions to be answered, I mean, your family and friends would still exist in the alternate universe, identical in every way to the person you know in your home universe, but it wouldn't quite be them...would it?

[slash112]

Yup. If that theory is true, then yup. Now, let's make a machine that takes us to alternate universes. (See that's the easy bit, now that the theory is sound)

[Spartiate]

How would you know which universe to go to? You think you've found the right one, everything looks normal, as it should be... then BOOM. A T-rex eats your family.

[benzene]

How would you know which universe to go to? You think you've found the right one, everything looks normal, as it should be... then BOOM. A T-rex eats your family. Haha, yeah that's kinda the problem, you wouldn't. There are a lot of if's and but's with this theory, but it still prooves that time travel is possible. Here's the slightly more realistic possibility of time travel: if you were to take a spaceship to a black hole and hover above it for awhile, and when you then return to earth, you will notice that say a thousand years have gone past. Try not to get sucked into the black hole though, that may end painful. How would that work? Time is not a physical object like light that can be sucked into a black hole.

[Hot Chocolate]

How would that work? Time is not a physical object like light that can be sucked into a black hole. It's Einsteins theory of general relativity. Matter warps time and space. For small objects the effect is not notable, but for massive objects, like black holes, it is noticeable. When you're near a massive object time will proceed slower than when you're not. It works with speed to, if you travel at a reasonable portion of the speed of light, time will proceed slower as well.

[benzene]

It's Einsteins theory of general relativity. Matter warps time and space. For small objects the effect is not notable, but for massive objects, like black holes, it is noticeable. When you're near a massive object time will proceed slower than when you're not. It works with speed to, if you travel at a reasonable portion of the speed of light, time will proceed slower as well. That makes sense, but peoples perception of time is pretty much all in their head, so how can they tell if time is going faster or slower than the normal? Also, by incresing the speed at which your neurotransmiters move, people can experience time as if it were moving slower than normal, I've experienced this personally while juggling You still can't go back in time though. What if using my theory, you went to a universe where evolution started an hour later then here, sure getting there and finding out what universe to go to would be a problem, but given how much technology has excelled in the past 100 years, it could be possible.

[Kraftwerk]

How would you know which universe to go to? You think you've found the right one, everything looks normal, as it should be... then BOOM. A T-rex eats your family. Or you find out everyone in your family is a satanist-assasin, and that somehow Chuck Norris is your godfather. Who the hell am i kidding? I'd rather go there than the past!

[Hot Chocolate]

Here's the slightly more realistic possibility of time travel: if you were to take a spaceship to a black hole and hover above it for awhile, and when you then return to earth, you will notice that say a thousand years have gone past. Try not to get sucked into the black hole though, that may end painful.

[Burke]

Stephan Hawking said that if you can travel fast enough to go near lightspeed, then time inside your shuttle would slow down, as to not break the laws of physics and break the speed of light. If you went 99.999% light speed, and stayed there for, say 6 years (the vehicle's time) then the people inside the vehicle will have aged 6 years, while poeple outside the vehicle will have aged more, therefore, you essentially travel forward in time. No need for alternate universes/extremely complicated modes of travel. Just go really, really fast! (I saw this on The Universe on the discovery channel. See!? T.V. does teach you things!

[Hot Chocolate]

No need for alternate universes/extremely complicated modes of travel. Just go really, really fast! You still can't go back in time though.

[Burke]

He said something about that too, i just can't remember it

[TheScientist33]

You still can't go back in time though. But going back in time has always been littered with paradoxes. Even if you can travel in time, it makes sense you could only go forward. You can't change what has already happened. You get the classic situation where say, someone dies. Someone goes back in time to save them, but if they saved the person from death, then they would have never been triggered to go back in time in the first place, so the person would die anyway, but then the person WOULD have been triggered to go back in time, etc etc etc. It's an endless loop. Traveling forward on the other hand doesn't affect anything up to the point where you traveled through time, and as long as you don't go back (which the example above "proves") then it's completely possible, given the right circumstances.

[ArcanumNoctis]

But going back in time has always been littered with paradoxes. Even if you can travel in time, it makes sense you could only go forward. You can't change what has already happened. You get the classic situation where say, someone dies. Someone goes back in time to save them, but if they saved the person from death, then they would have never been triggered to go back in time in the first place, so the person would die anyway, but then the person WOULD have been triggered to go back in time, etc etc etc. It's an endless loop. Traveling forward on the other hand doesn't affect anything up to the point where you traveled through time, and as long as you don't go back (which the example above "proves") then it's completely possible, given the right circumstances. the·o·ry     –noun,plural-ries 1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity. 2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact. 3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory. 4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory. 5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles. 6. contemplation or speculation. 7. guess or conjecture.

[jarrhead]

The space-time relation is truly mind-blowing.

[hgld1234]

Believe it or not, we ARE time travellers. Here's why: We are on the Earth, which is a planet, and it's big. Very big. Therefore, the Earth distorts time, and everything on the Earth is with that distortation. Because of this, Earth time is slightly behind Space time. Which means, we are time travellers!

[ninja9578]

Believe it or not, we ARE time travellers. Here's why: We are on the Earth, which is a planet, and it's big. Very big. Therefore, the Earth distorts time, and everything on the Earth is with that distortation. Because of this, Earth time is slightly behind Space time. Which means, we are time travellers! Not quiet, time dilation is not the same as time traveling. And the earth is not big enough to distort space-time in any noticeable way. Maybe a microsecond over a billion years. Interesting thought though, someone calculate the difference between earth time and space time.

[Sandform]

O The math quiet easily shows that any attempt to traverse a vibrational frequency will destroy both universes. Looks like you've busted my bubble.

[ninja9578]

OP, where does your theory come from? I assume it's a bastardization of M-theory? If that's the case then you are right, but traveling between universes is impossible, as they don't exist in the same brane vibration. The math quiet easily shows that any attempt to traverse a vibrational frequency will destroy both universes.

[benzene]

OP, where does your theory come from? I assume it's a bastardization of M-theory? If that's the case then you are right, but traveling between universes is impossible, as they don't exist in the same brane vibration. The math quiet easily shows that any attempt to traverse a vibrational frequency will destroy both universes. Sorry Ninja, I'm only 15 and my highest qualifications are mostly A's in GCSE's and I don't know what M-theory, a brane vibration or traversing a vibrational freqency is, but I'm willing to learn if you would explain it to me?

[tkdyo]

wheres all the dvers coming in to say travel to the past is impossible because the past no longer exists? Its just an illusion created by the memories in your mind and the study of history. Ive heard that so many times on here by now lol. I guess it doesnt have to do much with your theory though, since yours is about trans-versing universes. However, ninja covered that Who knows, maybe some startling new scientific revelation will change that even.

[really]

What exactly can "travel" through time? I think for something to be able to travel time, it must be independent from it. If it is your own body or a the space shuttle you fly in, then they are part of space and time. So does it make sense for space to travel time? It can't really occur. Thus, if it is beyond space, it is also beyond time. Apparently we can re-experience past-experiences through hypnosis, but when it comes to experiencing the future, it could only be known as an approximation or prediction. No dimensions of time actually exist.

[ninja9578]

wheres all the dvers coming in to say travel to the past is impossible because the past no longer exists?. They got scared when I started explaining the current theories of the universe Sorry Ninja, I'm only 15 and my highest qualifications are mostly A's in GCSE's and I don't know what M-theory, a brane vibration or traversing a vibrational freqency is, but I'm willing to learn if you would explain it to me? You can learn the basics of M-theory from this show by the BBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-yEu-b_YD0. The theory has changed slightly since then and obviously it's far more complex than that, but it takes an understanding of relativity, quantum physics, and a firm grip on multidimensional calculus, to understand it in any kind of depth. What exactly can "travel" through time? I think for something to be able to travel time, it must be independent from it. If it is your own body or a the space shuttle you fly in, then they are part of space and time. So does it make sense for space to travel time? It can't really occur. Thus, if it is beyond space, it is also beyond time. Apparently we can re-experience past-experiences through hypnosis, but when it comes to experiencing the future, it could only be known as an approximation or prediction. No dimensions of time actually exist. Actually, exactly one time dimension exists The math shows pretty inconclusively, that traveling backwards in time would instantly destroy the universe. Here is a lay-mans way of putting it: If you somehow open a portal to the past and move something there. The past suddenly has more mass/energy then it did when we were really there. And that mass and energy stays there, so next time around, when the portal is opened, even more mass/energy gets added. It's like holding a microphone in front of a speaker, the power amplifies very rapidly. If you did that in a universe, the mass/energy within the universe would instantly go to infinity, destroying the branes that our universe is in.

[tkdyo]

They got scared when I started explaining the current theories of the universe Actually, exactly one time dimension exists The math shows pretty inconclusively, that traveling backwards in time would instantly destroy the universe. Here is a lay-mans way of putting it: If you somehow open a portal to the past and move something there. The past suddenly has more mass/energy then it did when we were really there. And that mass and energy stays there, so next time around, when the portal is opened, even more mass/energy gets added. It's like holding a microphone in front of a speaker, the power amplifies very rapidly. If you did that in a universe, the mass/energy within the universe would instantly go to infinity, destroying the branes that our universe is in. lol I must have missed that one, good for you hey that second one sounds like a good way to save the universe in the future when thermodynamics takes hold and theres almost no flowing energy left!

[jarrhead]

No tkdyo, cause think. If somebody were to open a portal to you right now, then the portal would open an infinite number of times from when we travel to the further point in time and he comes back again. Instantly everything goes boom.

[Merro]

Even if we did find a way to "Time Travel". I still think it's a bad idea. If you screw something up in the past or future, it can alter the time line and mess everything up in the present. Otherwise. I think time traveling is a bad idea. It would be a cool experience though. Just don't mess anything up in the past or future.