Time Travel Facts

Ask any person in the twilight zone of his life, what is the most valuable thing for him today? The answer from most would be time. You may buy anything with money, but you cannot buy time! That's because time is irreversible and you get only a very limited amount of it on Earth! We conscious beings perceive time in the form of changes that occur in the universe. We remember the past and not the future which is yet to be. The fabric created by the laws of our universe is such, that the changes in it are unidirectional. Time is known to flow in one direction exclusively. Unlike motion in space, motion in time is only in one direction - forward towards the future, or is it? Is time travel possible? Is there some loop in the laws of physics that can allow for travel back in time? We will try to answer these questions, by investigating time travel facts that have been discovered so far through scientific research. Check out the discussion on time as the fourth dimension, to know how it's different from other dimensions.

Scientific Facts About Time Travel

It is difficult to discuss time travel facts, when there is no actual scientific evidence of a person having traveled time either way - to the past or to the future. Only a real time traveler could give us some real time travel information. However, the special theory of relativity has proved that time travel to the future may indeed be possible due to the phenomenon of time dilation. This phenomenon has actually been observed in case of the decay of a sub atomic particle. The particle called muon, which is created through interaction of cosmic rays with the upper atmosphere, should theoretically never reach the Earth, as they decay in a very short time.

However, they do survive the whole distance because of their relativistic speed which slows down time for them! Faster you move, slower time moves for you, with respect to your surrounding frame. While a muon would know no difference in the amount of time it took to decay, in the Earth's frame, it has survived longer or in other words, has traveled to the future.

However, the laws of thermodynamics prohibit a travel back in time. In nature, all changes occur in such a way, that entropy (disorder) always goes on increasing with time. Ergo, time travel back in time would only be possible if entropy decreased. This has been proved not to be possible till date, through physics experiments. A time machine would be some kind of an entity which can decrease entropy! Until such a device can be built, one can safely say, travel back in time is not possible!

A consideration of all these facts reveals that as of now, time travel back to the past seems impossible. Consider this scenario - if time travel to the past would have been possible, wouldn't we have been visited by our future generations already? So until time travelers from the future come knocking on your door, you could safely say that time travel to the past is a purely fictional concept! Think about it. Wouldn't time travel to the past change the very nature of causality? There is a reason why time travel to the past is not possible. Universe is built around causality (cause - effect principle) principle and travel back in time can mess up that core idea. However, time travel to the future is indeed possible and observed in case of subatomic particles. As we discussed previously, special relativity allows for travel to the future! All you need is a super fast space ship that can travel at speeds close to light! If you can arrange for such a ship, time travel to the future, is indeed possible!