Tap into the Past: Time Travel

Tap Into The Past : Time Travel

Introduction

As a popular science fiction concept , time travel has been mentioned repeatedly since early 19th century , appearing at regular intervals in the literature . The notion of time travel- the ability to move across different time periods , both in future and in past and then return back to the present , stimulated wild and fanciful imagination and it became as popular an idea as space travel and extra-terrestrial life . Indeed the ability to transport oneself in future or traverse the way back to ancient times holds

instant appeal . If the concept was not given any serious thought by scientists it was because there was no physical law or provision by which they could take any practical and concrete step towards its translation in reality . Time Travel and its universally known tool- time machine remained embedded in the pages of science fiction books as a wonderful mystery that escaped all solutions

Due to the constant high interest and demand , many books , articles , and media documentaries have published on the subject time travel ' and this will be referencing some of these publications for further understanding . The will also be studying different attempts and experiments that have been made to make time travel possible along with some evidences and proofs , exploring the unlimited possibility behind the concept in depth

Relativity and Time Travel

The understanding of nature of time , speed of light , shape space and universe in general underwent a revolutionary change after Einstein put forward his Special and General Theory of Relativity during 1905-14 Einstein showed that objects did not move absolutely with respect to a universal fixed frame , rather their velocity and direction varied relatively from frame to frame . These relative variations are more pronounced when the frames are also undergoing motion with respect to each other that is close to speed of light . Thus at speeds that close to c (symbol of speed of light ) it is possible for two people to observe remarkably different time periods for the same event- one may view it happening quickly and other would observe it proceeding very slowly- the phenomena known is known in physics as time dilation . Time dilation causes time to flow at different speed for two different observers within separate frame of reference . Thus an observer going away from earth at speed near light would find time running slowly while another observer , using an identical clock at earth would observe the time to pass swiftly . One of immediate theoretical consequence of time dilation was birth of twin paradox where twins would age differently if one of them takes a journey through space while other remains at earth

Although Einstein resolved the paradox through the General Theory of Relativity , relativity created the first substantial , even if were unstable , bridge between the chimera of Time Travel and its actual materialization . As the seemingly bizarre predictions of theory of relativity , such as time dilation , length contraction and simultaneity were tested and verified beyond doubt , scientific philosophers...