Can We Time Travel to Earth's Past and Future?

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the theoretical possibility of time travel to both the Earth's past and future. Participants explore various aspects of this concept, including scientific principles, philosophical implications, and speculative ideas, without reaching a consensus.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that, based on current scientific understanding, time travel to the past or future is not possible.
  • One participant notes that the Earth's past is physically distant due to the solar system's movement through space, suggesting practical challenges to time travel.
  • Another participant expresses skepticism about time travel, linking it to science fiction and suggesting that it will remain a fictional concept.
  • Conversely, some argue that while faster-than-light travel is impossible, concepts like space-warping engines could theoretically allow for rapid travel without violating physical laws.
  • A participant references Carl Sagan's perspective, highlighting the importance of evidence in discussions about time travel and the potential for historical insights if it were possible.
  • One viewpoint suggests that time dilation, as experienced by objects moving at high speeds, could allow for travel into the future, albeit in a limited sense.
  • Philosophical musings on the nature of time and consciousness are also introduced, suggesting that time may be subjective.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the possibility of time travel. While some firmly believe it is impossible, others entertain speculative ideas and theoretical frameworks that suggest it might be worth exploring further.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes various assumptions about the laws of physics, the nature of time, and the implications of time travel, which remain unresolved. Participants express differing views on the relationship between science fiction and scientific possibility.

andytran
Messages
41
Reaction score
0
hello all!

here is my question.
Is it theoretically possible to time travel to the Earth's future and it's past?

thx
 
Physics news on Phys.org
As far as present-day understanding goes, no.

And the Earth's past is far away behind us in space. The whole solar system is traveling through space at hundreds of miles per second. To go back to yesterday you'd need a spaceship.
 
To follow some error events. travel in time was right past time

to travel in time. that is happen as some past event perhaps , but the secret and rule is not clearn now. to move a particle is complex very in time dimension. so to move Earth it is very hard now. very hard.
 
Time Travel ? No Way

Time Travel? is a popular theme in Sci-Fi movies and books
but unless you are a comic book character, I think it will never happen. Dr.
Kaku thinks the same thing I believe. I listen to the late night talk show on
AM radio :Coast to Coast AM and am constantly amazed at the stupid people
who call into George Noory with their goofy stories about paranormal sightings
and their observations of "Mysterious events" which are probably made up
stories or mistaken observations of common events. The latest thing reported
by the Monday thru Friday talk host :George Noory is that he will try and take a
TIME TRAVEL trip via a "Inventor he has contacted. Many people send him Email
and call him to advise him NOT to do this as if this is entirely POSSIBLE ! George
who seems to have only movie adventures as any scientific experience and
shows his lack of any real paranormal background by the questions he asks his
radio guests is replaced by ART BELL on the weekends who does have a fair
amout of smarts in this field.

I admit that I have only my opinions and no experience to say the above and
feel that Time Travel will remain only in Science fiction stories but then they said
that we would never travel to the Moon or if you traveled faster than 30 miles an
hour in a motorcar you would die because you could not breathe with the air
moving so fast past you...so perhaps I am wrong about Time Travel.

Another topic : The Star trek matter Transmitter? Now is that possible?
 
Originally posted by andytran
hello all!

here is my question.
Is it theoretically possible to time travel to the Earth's future and it's past?

thx

The problem is that you can't say, 'Hey, what would happen if you could go faster than the speed of light?' because that's totally physically impossible. It's not possible to go faster than the speed of light, so the laws of physics can't possibly say what would happen if you imagine things that way in some hypothetical universe. Physics is a complete package: once you decide to ignore one physical law, you're ignoring them all.

You run into a similar problem when you ask 'What if I could divide by zero?' or 'What if I could build a perpetual motion machine?' or 'What if I went back in time and killed my grandfather before I was born?' There's no answer, because the question doesn't make any sense.

Of course, this doesn't bother the writers of Star Trek. They go faster than the speed of light every show and travel into the past like it's a trip to Disneyland. This brings up an interesting point, however: The idea of a space-warping engine is NOT entirely a bad one! Warping space would allow you to travel as if you were moving faster than light by changing the structure of the universe, at least temporarily. You would end up in a certain location much faster than if you traveled there the 'normal way,' kind of like a secret passage. Happily for relativity, you would STILL not actually be traveling faster than the speed of light in local space, so Einstein's 'speed limit' still holds.

The point is that though it's fun to think about and enjoy in science fiction, truly going faster than the speed of light is a violation of the laws of physics and therefore can not really be discussed by physics. I can't say time would reverse itself or not exist or anything because those aren't even options. It's like if I invited you out to dinner and you told me you absolutely couldn't come, but then I asked you whether you were going to have the soup or the salad!

This is from an interview with Carl Sagan. A NOVA specialist asked very intriguing questions that apply to your thread question above.
Q: Do you think that backwards time travel will ever be possible?
A: Such questions are purely a matter of evidence, and if the evidence is inconsistent or insufficient, then we withhold judgment until there is better evidence. Right now we're in one of those classic, wonderfully evocative moments in science when we don't know, when there are those on both sides of the debate, and when what is at stake is very mystifying and very profound.

If we could travel into the past, it's mind-boggling what would be possible. For one thing, history would become an experimental science, which it certainly isn't today. The possible insights into our own past and nature and origins would be dazzling. For another, we would be facing the deep paradoxes of interfering with the scheme of causality that has led to our own time and ourselves. I have no idea whether it's possible, but it's certainly worth exploring.

Today, we know that time travel need not be confined to myths, science fiction, Hollywood movies, or even speculation by theoretical physicists. Time travel is possible. For example, an object traveling at high speeds ages more slowly than a stationary object. This means that if you were to travel into outer space and return, moving close to light speed, you could travel thousands of years into the Earth's future.

Angelus Silesius, a sixth-century philosopher and poet, thought the flow of time could be suspended by mental powers:

Time is of your own making;
its clock ticks in your head.
The moment you stop thought
time too stops dead.

If you can imagine, I think you can accomplish. That's my motto.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 23 ·
Replies
23
Views
3K
  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
3K
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
3K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
4K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
1K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
Replies
14
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K