How to Build a Time Machine

frank249 writes "The September issue of Scientific American has an article discussing the possibility of time travel. They say that it wouldn't be easy, but it might be possible. It could be a while until we can expand worm holes and tow them to a neutron star but didn't someone say that if it is possible it will happen. If it is impossible it will just take a little longer."

Comments

Simple

[KarmaBitch]

Quick lesson in physics for those that don't want to read the article...

Time travel. Possible? Yes. It happens relativly speaking every day.

When you get onto an airplane you slow down in time. To say this simply. The faster you go, the slower time moves around you. This was confirmed back in the 1970's using atomic clocks. Although this isn't exactly time travel it's called time dilation which is a product of the general theory of relativity.

A quick little reference for those not familar with Relativity is a set of lecture notes from a basic astronomy class in U of Oregon.

For a little more in depth reading I'd look into buying The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time by Stephen W. Hawking. Or for those that are sadistic you can read Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime and Black Hole Thermodynamics. That is a collection of lectures from the University of Chicago. Although good in a sense of understanding relativity it kinda takes a tagent into the debate about light being a particle or a wave argument.

Theoritical physics is NOT voodoo Science.

[GuyMannDude]

While real physics has always been about rigorous (and vigorous) lab work, the popular image of physics, and Science as a whole, has strayed from this considerably.

Gees. Not only do you insult theoretical physicists here but every other science that does not involve experimentation such as computer science and mathematics. Who are you to define what "real physics" and "real Science" is?

Witness, for example, the popular celebration of Einstein's thought experiments. The average layman is under the impression that Einstein reached his great intellectual climaxes by just sitting and thinking about things, maybe over a cup of hot chocolate. What people don't see is the hours of experimentation (real experimentation) as he tried to verify and correct the results of his thought experiments.

Einstein did some of his best work while employeed as a patent clerk [1] [2] [3]. As a patent clerk, he most likely did not have access to the laboratory equipment needed to perform experiments involving speeds close to that of light. In fact the first experimental verification of general relativity was done some years after his papers and by someone else.

So why is it like that? Are people just stupid?

Okay, you've called us all stupid. Now here's your chance to back up that claim by showing us proof of these supposed "hours of experimentation (real experimentation)" that Einstein needed to work out relativity.

Since the collapse of the Catholic Church in the times of Galileo Galilei, there has been a vacuum where religious fervor once stood. Science (or this fantastical mockery of Science) has filled that void, uncomfortably.

I don't know what country you live in, but here in the US, the Cathloic Church is a formidable force in people's lives and in public policies. It certainly has not collapsed.

Show the theorists some respect.

GMD

Time Travel

[evilviper]

Here, since no one seems to be putting theories forward, here goes.

I think of time like a flashlight shining on a wall.
There is only one point shining at any one time. It may be possible to 'see' into the future, or travel there, but not backwards, namely because the Langoliers have eaten it.

It certainly is possible to travel faster than light, and will not result in time-travel. As time has shown again and again, there are no limits. Sound, Light, Warp 10, etc. So, this should tell you all one thing...

NEVER speak in infinitives. You will ALWAYS be proven wrong.