Professor Predicts Human Time Travel This Century

Professor Predicts Human Time Travel This Century

With a brilliant idea and equations based on Einstein’s relativity theories, Ronald Mallett from the University of Connecticut has devised an experiment to observe a time traveling neutron in a circulating light beam. While his team still needs funding for the project, Mallett calculates that the possibility of time travel using this method could be verified within a decade.

Black holes, wormholes, and cosmic strings – each of these phenomena has been proposed as a method for time travel, but none seem feasible, for (at least) one major reason. Although theoretically they could distort space-time, they all require an unthinkably gigantic amount of mass.

Mallett, a U Conn Physics Professor for 30 years, considered an alternative to these time travel methods based on Einstein’s famous relativity equation: E=mc2.

...

“As physicists, our experiments deal with subatomic particles,” said Mallett. “How soon humans will be able to time travel depends largely on the success of these experiments, which will take the better part of a decade. And depending on breakthroughs, technology, and funding, I believe that human time travel could happen this century.”

Titor, anyone?

What an interesting proclamation....

That would be some leap. The last 60 years or so seemed like things moved so fast, my grandparents have seen so much change.
If a “time machine” is made the changes to our life would be unimaginable.

There is no doubt in my mind that the first person/nation to create the time machine would go on to become the most powerful both politicaly and financialy(?). Alough this is one of the 'holy grails' of the science world, I think it would be wrong to create such a machine. Theres just too many implications.

Don't get me wrong here, i'd love for it to finaly be possible to time travel, and i'd like nothing more then to see it in action. It's just moraly wrong.

[edit on 4-4-2006 by R1ghteous]

Actually if Time Travel does become a reality(I high doubt it), then there are three forms this can take.

1st is the regular go back in time and kill your own grandparents before they have your parents and distroy the universe in an infinite paradox loop.

2nd is that when you go back in time, the very act itself splits the timeline off from the one you originated from, leaving both intact, though possibly stranding you in the new timeline you just created.

3rd is not time travel at all, but is called "Sliding," where an individual(s) open up a hole into an alternate timeline without the time-travel.

There are HUGE negative implications if the first turns out to be a reality. The 2nd and 3rd have little to no negative implications.

With that said, I think that if Timetravel is actually possible, it will not be around for centuries, not within a century. IMO of course.

Okay, now assuming that this guy hasn't gone off the deep end, and they do achieve time travel either the 2nd or 3rd example I gave, than what good will it do us? I can see how we may learn a lot about History and Science from the 2nd example, though with History, the very act of travelling back changes the timeline enough for it to split off entirely. The 3rd is even more limiting.

I just hope the first way is impossible. Grandfather Paradoxs give me a migraine.

[edit on 4-4-2006 by sardion2000]

Of course, if you read the full article, the third option appears to be his belief...

“The Grandfather Paradox [where you go back in time and kill your grandfather] is not an issue,” said Mallett. “In a sense, time travel means that you’re traveling both in time and into other universes. If you go back into the past, you’ll go into another universe. As soon as you arrive at the past, you’re making a choice and there’ll be a split. Our universe will not be affected by what you do in your visit to the past.”

[edit on 4-4-2006 by loam]

I read it, and it seems clear that that is his opinion. Other Physists I have talked to think the alternate reality hypothesis is absolute balderdash. I'm just reporting what I've heard from the "experts." However when it does come to time travel, or "sliding" as is the case here, any discussion is rife with assumptions and leaps of faith.

I personally think it would be rather neat if this were to be possible, but I'm not holding my breath.

Originally posted by sardion2000
However when it does come to time travel, or "sliding" as is the case here, any discussion is rife with assumptions and leaps of faith.

I quite agree....

Ever try to fully understand quantum physics? ...Personally, the subject tends to give me a nose bleed.

[edit on 4-4-2006 by loam]

I saw this guy in a time travel special on the discory channel. If I recall correctly, he proposes that someone can time travel the same way when light gets wrapped around a blackhole( I think) and the persons rides the lights which lets them exceed the C w/out breaking any laws. It's something like that and I recall that he really missed his father but realized that he couldn't communicate w/ his father because the device only lets you send messages from the time you first turn it on. Also, he said if his device actually works, particels might start apearing from nowhere which means it's actually from himself or others using the device from the future.

[edit on 4-4-2006 by Agentdemon]

I maybe totally wrong here, but has it not been said that you can only theoreticaly travel forwards and time and not back? I'm unsure of where I recall this from, I'll try my best to dig it up. So stay tuned for an edit on this post.

Originally posted by sardion2000
1st is the regular go back in time and kill your own grandparents before they have your parents and distroy the universe in an infinite paradox loop.

One thought that makes my head hurt here is; If you went back and killed your grandparents, that would render you obsolete(?) right? But if so then how could one travel back to stop being born in the first place if one did not exist?? ( Hope you see my point here )

A point to add here, and I hope someone can prove me wrong (please?). I personaly think traveling back in time is impossible on these grounds. Say we had the technology to travel back in time, we jump into this invention and attempt to travel back. Now, all the parts used to construct this machine would not have been around in the time your traveling back into, thus......? (head hurts)

[edit on 4-4-2006 by R1ghteous]

One thought that makes my head hurt here is; If you went back and killed your grandparents, that would render you obsolete(?) right? But if so then how could one travel back to stop being born in the first place if one did not exist?? ( Hope you see my point here )

I see your point and it's my hypothesis that such an action would destroy this universe. Why? I dunno but such a paradox is so hard to comprehend that the only result would be a catastophy IMO.

If you go back and kill your parents before they concieved you then how were you alive to travel back in time to kill your parents in the first place? A temporal paradox loop.

I guess it could be possible...i mean..if you also follow what John Titor talked about...he had some really good points about time travel.

So, once you go back, there is no going back? If you create a new timeline once you go back, what's the point of going back unless for personal gain in an alternate universe.

Oh crap, we're back in the Titor discussion again.

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
So, once you go back, there is no going back? If you create a new timeline once you go back, what's the point of going back unless for personal gain in an alternate universe.

My thought's exactly, the implications don't warrant thinking about. You could litteraly create a timeline where you rule the world. Or at least get some winning lotto number's

Well I honestly don't beleive time travel backwards through time is possible, it's my opinion that there's a universal constant to diallow it.

However, if he somehow could, I think he should be arrested, such a device should never be created, in fact it's my opinion that research on how to travel back in time should be illegal.

ive done my fair share of physics theory study(not actual math because that takes year and year) just the ideas behind it all. theoretical physics. basically the grandfather paradox does not exist. contrary to what you may have heard, just you being there would in effect change your future. you dont necessarily have to kill your grand father yourself. you could trip and knock over a glass which some how in time ends up getting your grandfather killed in a chain of new events.

just being there would be a paradox, just being there may change the world. farther back you go, the bigger the change. (remember when titor talked about divergency) its like that.

anyway the most plausable would be the tree scenario. the tree scenario is an infinate number of branches. every possible outcome has been played out, and you decide which branch your on. as far as theory goes this holds best because of its perfect fit. it explains the idea of Fate, but also shows the idea that you decide which branch to take. it takes time into consideration, along with probablity.

please keep in mind alot of quatum physics and relativity are not solid. watch 'The Elegent Universe' mini series from PBS. its pretty long but a good summary of string theory and the universe. also the sciences as a whole.

Well if you go back into time and end up stranded on a desert island and die without interacting with anyone then that may not cause a paradox. A pebble in the pond will not cause a tsunami.

The Grandfather Paradox thought experiment is analogous to droping a boulder into a shallow puddle.

This is all in the context of the Single Timeline theory.

[edit on 4-4-2006 by sardion2000]

Originally posted by Umbrax
If a “time machine” is made the changes to our life would be unimaginable.

If a time machine were ever to be made... it would change tame spice, erh... time space as we know it; past, present and future.. from that moment on people would be able to go anywhere in time, thus wrecking up the flow of history... maybe that's why the world is such a mess right now.. some idiot from the future started nazisism at the beginning of the last century and the doodoo hit the fan... bye bye existance.

butterfly effect my friend. it is true, mainly because of probablity. every scenario has already been played out, you merely spark a whole new branch when you come back because your actually changing what the porbability factor was.

from there something that may have never happened on any of the timelines now will happen. for instance your grandfather may have not died on any of the timelines between the timeline you were to travel to and the timeline you left(HIGHLY improbable) now that you come you sprout NEW timelines because you are a new factor not previously there. this opens up an infinite new amount of branches because time is infinite.

now any choice hold a simple amount of probablity, thats what the universe is dependent on. the more possible outcomes to a choice, the less the probability of it happening. at the same time such a choice could be increasing a later outcome possibility. such as, grandfather dying. what you are doing by going back is cheating probability. cheating can lead to both desired and undesired outcomes as ashton kutcher found in "The Butterfly Effect".

when you drop the stone intitially, it may just be a pebble. keep in mind though every moment this pebble rolls(has any effect) it gets larger and larger (more significance) to the point where it could be the size of a boulder later in life. these little things people tend to call fate are such pebbles. the farther back you start the pebble at the more time it has to accumulate significance. the probability it will be nothing all depends on other little pebbles.

If only I had a nickel for everytime a professor/researcher predicted something.

I've heard another recent theory by an established physicist that you can only go back in time as far back as the machine was created. If a natural time machine already exists in the universe then you would be able to go back in time until the moment that was created. I wish I could find the article...In think it was Discover magazine...