lsaac SchwarLz

Lngllsh10P
nye3
Lh

12/1/10
llnal Copy
Does anyone have the t|me?
Audlence Mlss nye
urpose 1o lnform
1lme Lravel ls one of Lhe mosL mysLerlous and conLroverslal Loplcs ln LheoreLlcal physlcs
1lme Lravel ls also Lhe spark of many an advenLure lnLo sclence flcLlon 8uL ls lL resLrlcLed Lo scl
fl l don'L Lhlnk lL ls? l Lhlnk Llme Lravel ls a very real posslblllLy ln Lhe fuLure
ln real llfe Lhe physlcs are a loL harder Lo undersLand Lhan [usL hopplng ln a ueLorean
and punchlng Lhe daLe lnLo Lhe dashboard llrsL off you have Lo undersLand LhaL where you are
and how fasL your golng ls llnked Lo when you are LlnsLeln called Lhls relaLlonshlp spaceLlme
CravlLy ls Lhe force of aLLracLlon beLween Lwo ob[ecLs" as so nlcely puL by our good frlend Slr
lsaac newLon Lhe founder of modern physlcs Sorry Lo say Lhls newLon buL LhaL's noL Lhe whole
sLory
CravlLy ls acLually a dlsLorLlon ln spaceLlme 1he mass of an ob[ecL ln spaceLlme bends
spaceLlme llke lf you puL a heavy bowllng ball on a waLer bed lL would slnk ln and lf you puL a
bunch of marbles on your bed Lhey would roll rlghL Lo Lhe bowllng ball now Lhlnk of LhaL ln 3d
1hls was flrsL verlfled when ln 1909 Lhere was an ecllpse of Lhe sun 1here was a sLar clearly
vlslble durlng Lhe ecllpse LhaL's poslLlon ln Lhe sky was supposed Lo be behlnd Lhe sun aL LhaL
Llme lL showed LhaL even Lhough Lhe llghL Lraveled ln a sLralghL llne Lhe space around lL was
curved by Lhe suns gravlLy so we saw Lhe sLar around Lhe sun So lf gravlLy dlsLorLs space and
lsaac SchwarLz
Lngllsh10P
nye3
Lh

12/1/10
llnal Copy
Lherefore Llme you can use gravlLy as a sorL of Llme machlne Speed works Lhe same way lf you
are golng really fasL for exLended perlods of Llme Lhen Llme acLually slows down AsLronauLs
are Lhe world's greaLesL Llme Lravelers 1hls ls due Lo Lhe facL LhaL asLronauL Lravel aL
lmmensely hlgh speeds around Lhe LarLh when Lhey orblL Such hlgh speeds slow down Lhelr
percepLlons of spaceLlme ln a process called Llme dllaLlon 1he problem ls LhaL lL's noL pracLlcal
form of Llme Lravel as golng Lhousands of mlles an hour for weeks aL a Llme has only advanced
Lhe world record holder for Llme ln space 1/100000 of a second or so lnLo Lhe fuLure
uslng Lhese physlcs some endeavorlng sclenLlsLs have aLLempLed Lhe Lask of deslgnlng
Llme machlnes MosL of Lhese machlnes would fall mlserably lf Lhey were ever bullL l once saw
a deslgn for a Llme machlne LhaL used an orblLlng saLelllLe ln Lhe shape of a glanL cyllnder LhaL
was supposed Lo spln aL Lhe speed of llghL 1he only problem was when Lhe lnvenLor wenL back
over hls maLh he found LhaL lL had Lo be lnflnlLely long and sLreLch across Lhe whole unlverse
and sLlll noL be done
Some machlnes Lhough are qulLe feaslble and use real world physlcs 1he easlesL Lo
make would be a spaceshlp LhaL can Lravel close Lo llghLspeed 1hls would Lake advanLage of
Lhe earller menLlon phenomenon known as Llme dllaLlon 1he lncreased speed would
dramaLlcally lncrease Lhe affecL of Lhls phenomenon ?ou could [usL Lake a qulck Lrlp around
luLo and come back Len years ln Lhe fuLure AnoLher deslgn uses gravlLy lf you could consLrucL
a machlne LhaL would leL you survlve close Lo a black hole you could use Lhe lmmense gravlLy
lsaac SchwarLz
Lngllsh10P
nye3
Lh

12/1/10
llnal Copy
Lo dlsLorL spaceLlme 1he same concepL works wlLh cosmlc sLrlng Cosmlc sLrlngs are lefLovers
from Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe unlverse 1hey are somewhaL sLralghL llnes of superdense energy
and maLLer 1he denser someLhlng ls Lhe more gravlLy lL emlLs and Lhe more lL affecLs space
Llme !usL belng near one would skyrockeL you and everyLhlng around you lnLo Lhe fuLure 1he
cool Lhlng abouL cosmlc sLrlngs ls LhaL lf Lwo of Lhem came close Lo each oLher Lhey would
LwlsL space and allow Llme Lravel Lo Lhe pasL 1he problem wlLh cosmlc sLrlngs ls LhaL Lhey are
noL proven Lo exlsL aL all and nobody knows how Lo flnd Lhem leL alone geL Lhem Lo pass by
each oLher
Sadly cosmlc sLrlngs are noL Lhe only Lhlng LhaL we don'L undersLand 1here are so many
Lhlngs we don'L know abouL whaL happens Lo you when you Lravel Lo Lhe pasL 1hey even have
a fancy word for lL lL's called a Llme paradox 1here ls one very famous and frequenLly debaLe
paradox called Lhe grandfaLher paradox lL asks whaL happens lf you go back ln Llme and klll
your grandfaLher before he has any chlldren lf you aren'L born Lhen how do you go back ln
Llme Lo sLop yourself from belng born? See LhaL's why lL's called a paradox lL's because lL's so
confuslng LhaL we can'L undersLand lL aL all
So lL seems LhaL lL ls posslble Looklng back aL Lhe physlcs Llme Lravel ls noL [usL sclfl
garbage 1lme Lravel ls a real posslblllLy wlLh a llLLle lnsplraLlon some complex physlcs and a
good head for englneerlng