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Stephen Hawking Service: Possibility of Time Travellers 'Can't Be Excluded' (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the never-gonna-give-you-up dept.

Organisers of Prof Stephen Hawking's memorial service have seemingly left the door open for time travellers to attend. From a report: Those wishing to honour the theoretical physicist, who died in March aged 76, can apply via a public ballot. Applicants need to give their birth date - which can be any day up to 31 December 2038. Prof Hawking's foundation said the possibility of time travel had not been disproven and could not be excluded. It was London travel blogger IanVisits who noticed that those born from 2019 to 2038 were theoretically permitted to attend the service at Westminster Abbey. He said: "Professor Hawking once threw a party for time travellers, to see if any would turn up if he posted the invite after the party. None did, but it seems perfect that the memorial website allows people born in the future to attend the service. Look out for time travellers at the Abbey."

2 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. Dr. Hawking's final joke... by MrKevvy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    He had quite a sense of humor, and use it to cope with his condition. In 2009 when the threw a Time Traveller's Party and no one attended, he indicated that this was confirmation that time travel was not possible.

    And as far as we can tell, it isn't, to the point of ridiculousness, and our physics is validated and complete enough on this to be almost certain. Time travel introduces unresolvable paradoxes (ie sending a single particle backwards far enough in time would completely change future atmospheric patterns, weather events and thus affect who was born, including those doing the sending) and and would require unfathomable physics to carry out (on the order of constraining the energy of a hydrogen bomb in the volume occupied by a human such that no damage or radiation occurred.)

    Not going to happen. If it ever did, being time travel, it already would have.

    --
    -- Insert witty one-liner here. --
  2. Seems more like an inside joke to me.. by toonces33 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    2038 is when a 32-bit time_t overflows.

    Or maybe the software they wrote for the application process is just buggy. Wouldn't be the first time that ever happened.