18 Aug 07
Originally posted by josephwSURELY YOU DON'T BELIEVE THIS BLASPHEMY DO YOU???
I heard on the news today that some scientists have caused a molecule or something to move at the speed of light.
Also, that if one left point A at the speed of light they would arrive at their destination and return to see their departure from point A.
Weird.
20 Aug 07
Originally posted by josephwThats simply bad science.
Also, that if one left point A at the speed of light they would arrive at their destination and return to see their departure from point A.
Weird.
Its not clear what you are saying, but if you mean they could return to their departure point in time to witness their departure then that is false as it would require their velocity to be infinite (not the speed of light).
If what you mean if that they 'turn round' (not return) and look back the way they came, then they still would not see their departure as again it would require that they travel faster than light.
However since it is possible to slow light down or make it take a longer route there is nothing stopping you from seeing your departure even when you are hardly moving at all, (look in a mirror and you will see it).
23 Aug 07
Originally posted by josephwTo suggest that something can move backwards in time based on the
I heard on the news today that some scientists have caused a molecule or something to move at the speed of light.
Also, that if one left point A at the speed of light they would arrive at their destination and return to see their departure from point A.
Weird.
old theory of Einstein is strange indeed.
Time is the fourth dimension. It is the dimension that allows for
interaction between particles, thus making movement possible. We are
very much aware of this dimension, which is why we can remember
previous events. Assume for an instance that time has a given speed. If
you can increase the speed throughout the universe you should be able
to move us all forwards in time. If you can somehow reverse the direction
of time throughout the universe everything should move backwards in
time. Nothing lost, nothing gained.
Now, assume that you can create a little bubble around yourself, and
then send that bubble hurling backwards or forward through the fourth
dimension (time). Then you would in effect travel through time, because
the rest of the universe would move at the constant speed of time,
whereas you fast forward or rewind (to rewind is impossible, by the way).
If time has the speed of light, say, and you travel some distance from
earth and then return at a speed higher than the speed of light,
you should move forwards in time. What Einstein said was that if you
travel at a speed higher than the speed of light, the normal timespace
continuum would not affect you as you would "skip" timeframes and
jump to a later timeframe. People on earth would have seen years pass
by, whereas you would have seen weeks (depending on exactly how fast
you manage to travel).
In theory, if you can increase your speed beyond the speed of time
(whatever that may be) you can jump forward in time. This, however,
implies that you cannot go backwards in time. If higher speed would
cause your physical body to skip time frames, then the only logical
solution to go backwards in time is to travel at negative speed (which is
of course ridiculous).
(This is the way I've had it explained to me, but if anyone knows better,
please don't worry about offending me. I would very much appreciate a
correction, if needed.)
23 Aug 07
Originally posted by stockenYou are way off. Most of what you said is wrong.
(This is the way I've had it explained to me, but if anyone knows better,
please don't worry about offending me. I would very much appreciate a
correction, if needed.)
Besides the original poster said nothing about going faster than light.
23 Aug 07
6 edits
Originally posted by twhiteheadjosephw wrote:
You are way off. Most of what you said is wrong.
Besides the original poster said nothing about going faster than light.
Also, that if one left point A at the speed of light they would arrive at their destination and return to see their departure from point A.
As if you travel the speed of light you'll move backwards in time. This is
not the way I've understood it at all, so I explained how I've had it
explained to me. If I'm so off, please don't hesitate to explain what I've
got wrong.
It's my understanding that you can't really move backwards in time as
that would require you to reverse time itself, not for your physical body,
but for the rest of the universe. How could that possibly be done? When
you're moving forward in time, you're not really affecting the universe
itself, but skipping so and so much physical degradation (aging) by
moving so fast that time itself has no effect on your physical body.* In
doing so, you would experience like one day while others who's not
moving as fast might experience a week (depending on the speed and
distance maintained).
* When I speak of time and timeframes, I'm obviously not talking about
time as a tangible existence that can be affected by any means. I'm
talking about movement. Reversing time would mean to reverse the
movements of every particle in the universe (except the ones that make
you up) so that they take the exact same positions as they took before
(or you'd get an alternate history). When moving forward, you're taking
yourself out of the universe for so and so long so that your body is not
affected by the movement and ongoing interactions between particles in
the universe such that when you re-enter (slow down to a speed that is
again too slow to not interact with the surrounding) you haven't aged a
bit, but everyone else may have aged years (depending on how long
you've been away from the influence of time). Another way to travel
forward in time then, would be if you're put in cryopreservation where
your body won't be affected by time and then revived some 100 years
later. You'd still be a young man while everyone you knew are either
dead or ridiculously old. To you, no time at all has elapsed.
Interesting link. Apparently, you can't go faster than light as if you do
there's no telling what will happen. It's not science even, but a funny
thought experiment. 🙂
http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae283.cfm
Another link on the subject (I'm actually learning as I move forward in
time here - usually I just move forward in time):
an object traveling at high speeds ages more slowly than a stationary object. This means that if you were to travel into outer space and return, moving close to light speed, you could travel thousands of years into the Earth's future.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/through.html
And I guess the page after the above one really slaps me in the face
for saying that it's impossible to travel backwards in time:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/through2.html
😳🙂
23 Aug 07
Originally posted by stockenThe faster you travel the slower time goes for you in relation to other stationary objects. At the speed of light time stops for the object traveling at the speed of light. So you are correct to say that the original post was wrong to imply that time would move backwards.
As if you travel the speed of light you'll move backwards in time. This is not the way I've understood it at all, so I explained how I've had it
explained to me. If I'm so off, please don't hesitate to explain what I've
got wrong.
However some of your other statements such as:
If time has the speed of light, say,..
just don't make any sense at 'speed' is distance moved in a given time so to talk of time moving at a given 'speed' (comparable to the speed of light for example) is simply meaningless.
My understanding was that relativity showed that nothing could travel from stationary to the speed of light and then faster but that objects traveling faster than the speed of light (and back in time) was not totally ruled out.
However the original post does not make a whole lot of sense.
23 Aug 07
2 edits
Originally posted by twhiteheadThank you. 🙂
The faster you travel the slower time goes for you in relation to other stationary objects. At the speed of light time stops for the object traveling at the speed of light. So you are correct to say that the original post was wrong to imply that time would move backwards.
However some of your other statements such as:
[b]If time has the speed of light was not totally ruled out.
However the original post does not make a whole lot of sense.[/b]
Wouldn't it be amusing though that if you reach a speed higher than light
your body doesn't only stop it's aging process, but physically move
backwards? Then, by the time you land on earth again some 2000 years
from now, you're an abortion gone terribly wrong. 😵