Time travel
I’ve just watched a fun documentary on Channel 4: ‘The World’s First Time Machine’. It was rather dumbed down, but thisâas it turned outâwas just as well, because this branch of physics can explode the brains of the unwary (it nearly did with mine, anyway). They had some of the clearest explanations (no doubt very simplified) of the ‘great-grandfather paradox’, parallel universes, and how Superman could save Lois Lane that I’ve ever heard. They featured a physicist called Ronald Mallett, who is actually trying to build a time machineârather touchingly inspired by a wish to go back and meet his father who died young.
Describing his experiment, he said that it was quite possible that when he switched it on, he might see a particle that (brace yourself for this) was the result of an experiment that he would do some weeks or even years in the future. That really made me go, “Wha?”
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Ah the joys of theoretical time-travel. I love the way it screws up brains - mine included.
It was always films like Terminator that did it for me - sending your own father back in time to save your mother, fall in love (bleuch), and create yourself. Um yeah, eh, what? Cue brain meltdown for the nth time
It's weird - time travel's such a staple of sci-fi books and films that in some ways we take it for granted without ever really looking into the theory of it, nor why it could turn out to be such an almighty balls-up. The joys of chronoclasm, of - even inadvertently - affecting your surroundings, and thus affecting your own present. Brain-ache ahoy.----- Yep. I find when trying to think about anything like that, I need to go and lie down in a darkened room with a cool flannel on my forehead.
by bsag @ 30/06/2003 6:06 pm • Permalink •
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Iâm posting this from October 11, does that count?
Actually, Iâm certain time travel doesnât exist. Otherwise I would have travelled back and told myself how to do it by now.
Oh, great site â lots of good stuff, even though youâre a girl.
-Garrett
by garrett @ 11/10/2003 2:10 pm • Permalink •
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