Miscellaneous > The Lounge
Time Travel
Baikonur:
When do you think we'll know for sure if time travel is feasible?
John Gribbin: "Once we have true quantum computers (which is a whole other story), in about 30 years from now. That doesn't mean we'll be able to do it then, but we will know if it can be done."
--ALSO OF INTEREST--
http://tv.yahoo.com/news/wwn/20030319/104808600007.html
[ August 31, 2003: Message edited by: Xenix God ]
Pissed_Macman:
The only way I think it will be possible is via wormholes.
Baikonur:
Wormholes, nice move. Apparently the Great Minds of the 20th Century (And Beyond) agree with you . . .
"At that time wormholes were not something that were part of science fiction. They became part of science fiction as a result of this interaction between Carl [Sagan] and me [Kip Thorne]. . . .
(Narrator) With wormholes on center stage, Thorne soon found they had other mysterious properties. They could be used for more than traveling great distances in space; they might also be used for time travel.
(Kip Thorne) If you have a wormhole, then you can turn them into time machines for going backward in time. We thought, how could we have been so stupid? We should have realized that. It's obvious. . . .
. . .
There are several different ways to turn a wormhole into a time machine if you are a clever and infinitely advanced civilization. By an infinitely advanced civilization I mean, somebody who can do anything their heart desires except they can't violate the fundamental laws."
--excerpt from an amazing PBS documentary circa 1999, wherein a "discussion" is had between the likes of Kip Thorne, Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, John Wheeler, Igor Novikov, and David Deutsch -- all geniuses with their own theories on the scope and possibilities of Time Travel.
Pissed_Macman:
But what if a civilization not much more advanced than ours, or perhaps us in another 100 years, found a natural wormhole that already led a million years into the past or future?
Baikonur:
A neat idea.
My recommendation to you, dear friend, is the reading of books by Stephen Baxter.
Specifically:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/1SLG4819DG4BC/qid=1062326544/sr=5-1/ref=sr_5_1/102-5532238-4422540
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