Couple of points -

Neutrinos travel faster then the speed of light - therefore it is possible to travel faster then the speed of light, but only if you are a neutrino based life form.

Time Travellers - we could have met them, they could exist, however we would never know, because of Casuality again. We accept reality as it unfolds in front of us, we believe history to be true and there's no way we can tell whether or not it's been tampered with by Time Lords (as opposed to being tampered with by Gay Lords).

But what about evidence you scream...yeah, if you have the technical nouse to invent time travel, covering it up would be a doddle.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ July 21 2009, 12:58 PM BST

But what about evidence you scream...yeah, if you have the technical nouse to invent time travel, covering it up would be a doddle.

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Why bother covering it up? Why not strut and posture and brag?

Was just about to admit I must be wrong and you must be right, time travel isn't possible. However after a quick Google found this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX-wueNuvLM

Quote: chipolata @ July 21 2009, 1:01 PM BST

Why bother covering it up? Why not strut and posture and brag?

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That's just it, because we don't believe it today, means it's been covered up.

When you wake up tomorrow and there's a Virgin Travel Time Booth at the bottom of your street, you'll think it's normal and most likely pop back in time to have tea with the Carry On team.

Recommendation.

'Physics Of The Impossible' by Michio Kaku. Published in paperback by Penguin Books. UK RRP £9.99.

This book pretty much covers what is currently considered probable, possible and perhaps impossible, in the world of contemporary physics. Including issues such as force fields, invisibility, phasers and death stars, teleportation, antimatter and antiuniverses. And also subjects such as "faster than light", "time travel" and "parallel universes".

Kaku is a very accessible writer and has a strong background as as Professor of Theoretical Physics.

Quote: hey_nonny @ July 21 2009, 1:03 PM BST

Was just about to admit I must be wrong and you must be right, time travel isn't possible. However after a quick Google found this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX-wueNuvLM

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I never said that time travel was impossible. It just wouldn't work the way you describe it. By travelling in time, Kaku isn't talking about simply making a wormhole through hyperspace from one point to another. What you would need to do is anchor one end of the wormhole and take the other end off in a spaceship travelling close to the speed of light. Time dilation would make the moving end age slower than the anchored end so you would in effect be travelling back in time by stepping through the wormhole.

Just stepping through a wormhole would take you from one place in 2009 to another place in 2009. You would need to aply the time dilation effect to get any time travel from it and even then you would only be able to travel as far back as the creation of that wormhole (plus any aging it had done in the meantime) so you would never be able to go back and grab Hitler, unless you had a wormhole from that time.

Either way, the amount you travelled back in time would depend on the speed of the moving end of the wormhole, not how far apart the ends of the wormhole were - you wouldn't automatically go back 100 years just because your two ends were 100 light years apart. You would only go back 100 years if the moving end had been moving fast enough and long enough to be 100 years younger than your fixed end.

Quote: Tim Walker @ July 21 2009, 1:16 PM BST

Kaku is a very accessible writer and has a strong background as as Professor of Theoretical Physics.

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I'm sure I've seen him credited as a 'futurologist' when he was a talking head on some programme or another. I'm actually reading his Hyperspace book at the moment.

Quote: Tim Walker @ July 21 2009, 1:16 PM BST

Kaku is a very accessible writer and has a strong background as as Professor of Theoretical Physics.

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Kaku is one of my science hero's and still young enough to accomplish a great deal, hoping he will live long enough to acheive an Einstein, Newton status.

He's obviously an enthusiast. I liked hearing that whilst a teenager, he constructed a mini-particle accelerator by winding metal tubing round and round his high school running track.

Quote: Tim Walker @ July 21 2009, 1:16 PM BST

Recommendation. 'Physics Of The Impossible' by Michio Kaku.

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Cheers for that.

Good thread!

Quote: Afinkawan @ July 21 2009, 1:22 PM BST

I'm sure I've seen him credited as a 'futurologist' when he was a talking head on some programme or another. I'm actually reading his Hyperspace book at the moment.

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Going to have to get this book.

Anyway back to my obession.
There are many theories about time travel, shortcuts between two points in the Universe being one, though unlikely, according to the laws of physics is theoretically possible. Setting up your own short cut instead of trying to find one (ie, Wormhole) remains a theory as we aren't yet in a position to prove or disprove it. Unless Ronald Mallett gets his machine to work, also highly unlikely, though he's trying to twist space/time not bend it.

And that's all I have to say about that Forrest Gump

Quote: hey_nonny @ July 21 2009, 2:48 PM BST

There are many theories about time travel, shortcuts between two points in the Universe being one

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Citation? As far as I am aware the theories say that wormholes might allow time travel in certain circumstances but not just by the fact of providing a shortcut.

A DeLorean might let you go from one place to another quite quickly but it only travels through time when you add a flux capacitor. Same with wormholes - they might allow you to travel somewhere quickly but they will only allow time travel if you apply a time differential to their ends.

So what you're saying is NASA AD 2500 hasn't traveled back to put those landers on the moon?

I suspect all National Lottery winners to be time travellers too.

I believe the idea of parallel universes myself as it is the only theory to my knowledge that explains why there is an imbalance of matter and anti-matter. The fact that this stuff can move between universes (in theory) absolutely fascinates me.

Also that it may be that one of the stars we look at in the night sky is our own sun shining back at us from the past. There's a bit of time travel for you right there.

I love it.