Traveling to the Future with Speed of Light - Can it be True?

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In summary, at a physics conference, a speaker mentioned that it is possible to reach the future by traveling at the speed of light and returning to the present. However, this is not entirely true as it is not possible to reach the speed of light. Instead, by traveling at a high rate of speed in a spaceship, the same effect can be achieved through time dilation. This effect is caused by both gravity and movement, but the noticeable effects can only be seen at a significant portion of the speed of light.
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gunblaze
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I went to a physics conference today and there was this speaker who mentioned that if we want to get to the future(eg: year 3000), we could simply travel anywhere using the speed of light and travel back to wherever u belong and u will get to this "somewhen"<not somewhere> in the future.

Just want to know, how true is this statement? Anyone who can give an explanation out there?
 
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You can't ever reach the speed of light, but by getting in a spaceship and traveling at a high rate of speed, you can achieve the same effect. This is known as time dilation. See any of the gazillion threads on "The Twin Paradox".
 
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pervect said:
You can't ever reach the speed of light, but by getting in a spaceship and traveling at a high rate of speed, you can achieve the same effect. This is known as time dilation. See any of the gazillion threads on "The Twin Paradox".

This time dilation.. is it due to gravity or are there other reasons that cause this effect?

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  • #4
Time dilation does happen due to gravity but also simply by moving, but you would only see noticeable effects if you where moving at a significate portion of the speed of light.
 

1. Is traveling to the future with the speed of light possible?

According to Einstein's theory of relativity, it is theoretically possible to travel to the future with the speed of light. However, it would require an immense amount of energy and technology that is currently beyond our capabilities.

2. How does traveling at the speed of light affect time?

Traveling at the speed of light causes time dilation, which means that time slows down for the traveler compared to someone who is not traveling at that speed. This effect becomes more significant as the speed gets closer to the speed of light.

3. Can we build a spacecraft that can travel at the speed of light?

At the moment, it is not possible to build a spacecraft that can travel at the speed of light. The speed of light is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second, which is a speed that is currently impossible for any human-made object to reach.

4. Will traveling at the speed of light make us age slower?

Yes, traveling at the speed of light would make us age slower due to time dilation. However, this effect would only be noticeable if we could travel at speeds very close to the speed of light, which is currently not possible.

5. What challenges would we face when traveling at the speed of light?

One of the main challenges would be the enormous amount of energy required to reach the speed of light. Additionally, the effects of time dilation and other relativistic effects would need to be taken into account. The structural integrity of the spacecraft and the health of the travelers would also be major concerns.

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