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The Science and Physics of Back To the Future

overthinkingit writes "A scientist has tried to apply serious math and physics, including the Law of Cosines, to analyze how the DeLorean in Back to the Future travels through both Time AND Space: 'in order to pull off the kind of time travel we see in the Back To The Future trilogy — the kind where the traveler is transposed in time, but remains stationary in the same relative position to where he/she left — the DeLorean would have to be an outstanding space ship, in addition to its already laudable work as a time-ship. According to Doc Brown's stopwatch, Einstein the dog travels precisely one minute into the future on this first jump, arriving, relative to their frame of reference, at the same location he left. But how far has this reference frame itself traveled during that one minute?'"

16 of 436 comments (clear)

  1. Does it explain by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Funny

    how it leaves tracks of fire on asphalt? Or in the air? Never quite understood that part. The rest of the movie, OTOH, makes perfect sense.

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    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  2. It's really quite simple by Diss+Champ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The universe really DOES revolve around the earth in the movie universe, so no special measures are necessary beyond "simply" moving in time.

    1. Re:It's really quite simple by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 5, Funny

      And by meeting, he means fucking.

    2. Re:It's really quite simple by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

      Which is redundant when talking about the works of Heinlein.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  3. Doesn't need to be a spaceship by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since it was in space for 0.0000E+999 seconds, i.e. never.

    It did travel in time and moved from one point to another in the universe (to stay in the same spot on earth) but it didn't "travel in space", hence no need to be a spaceship.

    1. Re:Doesn't need to be a spaceship by shaitand · · Score: 5, Insightful

      'So, think about it... if you moved through time, forward one minute, and somehow skipped any spatial movement, the earth is going to be AT LEAST 1000 miles away from the point, relative to JUST its movement around the sun. That says nothing about how our solar system is moving through the galaxy or the galaxy moving in the universe.'

      I think you misunderstood his point. Yes being at the same location on earth requires a spacial movement. But in back to the future that movement is instantaneous just as your movement through time is. You never actually occupy the space in between and are never in outer space. There is no reason the delorian must be pressurized or carry oxygen tanks, exercise equipment, etc like a 'space ship'.

  4. Extra Dimensions by awitod · · Score: 5, Funny

    What you fail to grasp is that the 7th dimension works like quantum sticky tape to hold you in place relative to the things around you as you travel through time. So, you don't really need a space ship because of the relativistic affects of the items around you relative to each other pulling you along. Plus there's the whole inertia thing which requires you to go 88 miles an hour exactly so you always wind up where you started whether you go forward or backward. Try it yourself by drawing two 8's. On is for space space and the other one is for time space.

    Also, don't forget that the velocity has to be in miles per hour, because the metric system is gay.

    DUH!

  5. DeLorian problems by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 5, Funny

    The fire was probably due to a well known fact that DeLorians leaked fuel and oil badly. That's why they quit making them.

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    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:DeLorian problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      The fire was probably due to a well known fact that DeLorians leaked fuel and oil badly. That's why they quit making them.

      Why don't the British make computers?

      Because they haven't figured out how to make them leak oil yet.

      I'm sure you'll get a set of complimentary tightening wrenches with them when they do though.

    2. Re:DeLorian problems by Mister_Stoopid · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think that, if I had a time machine, I could come up with a more lucrative business plan than smuggling drugs.

  6. wear your space suit by v1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    anyone that has (in the past) managed to create a time travel device and has tried it, probably thought they made a disintegration machine, because anything they sent back or forward in time was never seen again. (or before, I suppose)

    Because a second/minute/year/millenia ago that spot was occupied by empty space. The earth is moving very fast through space.

    I've always used that reason to concede that even if we DO make time travel possible, it will be of little practical value.

    Then there's the other snag of transposition... if you say, send yourself back in time, what happens to that volume of space where you arrive? Is it destroyed? And what fills in the void where you left? Or one more expected result is it's transposed with your time's space. Thus all time travel is time swapping, something goes forward and something goes back. Now lets say you do make a time travel machine, and test it without considering the earth-travels-through-space issue... that means whatever you send out, you get a big ball of vacuum back. If it's a very brief travel, you may get a chunk of earth, high pressure ocean, or more likely, high pressure magma. Ouch... hope you got insurance. That'll turn your lab into a disaster area real quick.

    There are so man "problems" with time travel, that it really doesn't matter if its possible or not. It's not useful.

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    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  7. "Law of Cosines" ... by Sebastopol · · Score: 5, Insightful

    as serious math?

    Did a communications major write this?

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  8. Reference frames are relative by omnilynx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But how far has this reference frame itself traveled during that one minute?'

    Relative to what? Relative to itself, it hasn't traveled at all. And since we don't know the mechanism for time travel, there's no reason to use any other reference frame. Really, until we understand how they are supposed to travel through time we can't discuss the interactions of reference frames across time skips.

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  9. Re:1.21 Jigawatts by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 5, Funny

    1.21 Jigawatts: the energy output of a man dancing a 1.21 minute jig. So next time you jig, be very careful to dance either more or less than 1.21 minute, lest you suddenly go back in time to the 1950s where your dad is a spineless wimp.

  10. Don't ask me! by mangu · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ask this guy instead.

  11. Re:link by veganboyjosh · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't see the option for the flux capacitor. Link for that?