That assumes you already received the message. It's fine if you find yourself already witin the causality loop, but how do you actually start the loop. Say you're best friend gets hit by a bus. You want to try and prevent it, but you can't, because if you send the message back in time, the acciddent will have never happened, and you won't have gotten the idea to send the message.
Aside from the undoubtedly numerous crackpots who are attempting to build a time machine, I know of at least one more legitimate scientist who is working on something similar. Professor Ronald Mallet, at the University of Connecticut, is working on sending particles back in time. He is basing his on General Relativity, not quantum mechanics, using a circular path of lasers:
The importance of both of these projects is that if you can send photons back in time, you can send signals back in time, and send messages. For years people have wondered about temporal paradoxes and how they may be resolved. With a system such as these, paradoxes can be tested. We'll finally have an answer to the Grandfather paradox.
Even with paradoxes such as this, a temporal communication device would have incredible application. The scientist in the article might only be working with a few microseconds, but it sounds like that if you have a long enough fiber optic cable, you can send a signal as far back as you want. You might not be able to, say use it to prevent someone from having a fatal accident, since if the accident never happened, you would have never sent the message. But there are many useful applications, especially in forewarning events beyond human control. What if we knew exactly when and where every earthquake and hurricane was going to hit in a particular year? What if we knew rainfall patterns in advanced and could plan for draught ahead of time?
You wouldn't be able to use it to prevent the next 9/11, but you could probably use a temporal communicator to prevent the next hurricane Katrina disaster. The hurricane or earthquake will still devastate the city, but that doesn't mean there has to be anyone in it at the time.
There might be a way to overcome the issues of power, land, security, and line of site problems with the coast to coast wireless network. NASA is working on a project called Helios, a solar powered airplane flying perpetually in the stratosphere around 100,000 feet.
A link can be found at http://www.aerovironment.com/news/news-archive/std ryden.html
-Does anyone know if a standard connection would work at this altitude?
-What would be the range?
Slashdot Mirror
That assumes you already received the message. It's fine if you find yourself already witin the causality loop, but how do you actually start the loop. Say you're best friend gets hit by a bus. You want to try and prevent it, but you can't, because if you send the message back in time, the acciddent will have never happened, and you won't have gotten the idea to send the message.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Malett
The importance of both of these projects is that if you can send photons back in time, you can send signals back in time, and send messages. For years people have wondered about temporal paradoxes and how they may be resolved. With a system such as these, paradoxes can be tested. We'll finally have an answer to the Grandfather paradox.
Even with paradoxes such as this, a temporal communication device would have incredible application. The scientist in the article might only be working with a few microseconds, but it sounds like that if you have a long enough fiber optic cable, you can send a signal as far back as you want. You might not be able to, say use it to prevent someone from having a fatal accident, since if the accident never happened, you would have never sent the message. But there are many useful applications, especially in forewarning events beyond human control. What if we knew exactly when and where every earthquake and hurricane was going to hit in a particular year? What if we knew rainfall patterns in advanced and could plan for draught ahead of time?
You wouldn't be able to use it to prevent the next 9/11, but you could probably use a temporal communicator to prevent the next hurricane Katrina disaster. The hurricane or earthquake will still devastate the city, but that doesn't mean there has to be anyone in it at the time.
There might be a way to overcome the issues of power, land, security, and line of site problems with the coast to coast wireless network. NASA is working on a project called Helios, a solar powered airplane flying perpetually in the stratosphere around 100,000 feet. A link can be found at http://www.aerovironment.com/news/news-archive/std ryden.html
-Does anyone know if a standard connection would work at this altitude?
-What would be the range?