Who has never once in their lives been in a situation where they wished they could somehow travel back in time? Whether it's a shame that has passed, or something you did wrong and you'd like to go back to redo it... or go forward in time so you don't have to wait for the release of that long-awaited series? These are some of the examples in which at times in these lives, it crosses our minds, “wow, how I wish this were possible…”.
Content Index
What is Time Travel?
travel in time nothing more than being able to move, either forwards or backwards, through time. Going back seconds, hours, days, or simply moving forward, basically that's basically what it's like to travel back in time.
Types of Time Travel
When talking about time travel, a few types must be considered. And they are about the resistance of history to change, whether or not it can be changed, at what level would a time traveler be able to interfere with the course of history?
The story can be changed
That's where the bug catches! Small actions of a time traveler are capable of completely altering the present, or future, depending on the observer. In this type, history is changeable. That is why it is often a journey through time and between parallel realities. Where either the traveler transits between realities, or the traveler's action of time travel is what creates these realities.
For example, in the movie Back to the Future, or The Butterfly Effect, some minor modifications, causes a series of events to be modified, totally altering the future.
History cannot be changed
If the story cannot be changed, that is, it has great resistance to change. If someone manages to travel through time, he won't be able to change anything. Because the story is static, it means that the presence of this traveler has already been considered at some point.
For example, in Harry Potter, when Harry goes back in time, with Hermione's time-turner, and he "save" from the attack of the dementor how Expecto Patronum he discovers that his action was already part of the story, he didn't change anything, he just had the knowledge.
Works of Fiction
Time travel has become such a popular time thanks to works of fiction, books, movies, series, etc. Although some means, such as the comics approach more frequently than, for example, movies… at some point you have come across some content on the subject.
Movies considered classics, such as the franchise Back to the future launched between the years 1985 and 1990. Current series of great success such as Dark, which has already been elected as the best original series on Netflix, but of course we cannot forget the great reference Doctor Who either. Not to mention in drawings that from time to time machines capable of making time travel appear.
Thanks to this recurrence and presence in moments in our life, it became a desire, a will. Will it be possible to travel in time in the future, with all the technological advances?
Is it possible to travel through time?
The answer to that question is yes and no! No machines, no mysterious powers, cryogenics (freezing the body and thawing it in the future, like in Futurama)… Why is the answer yes and no? Because it is possible to travel in time, however only to the future! It is not possible to travel to the past, at least not at the moment.
It is completely possible to travel into the future, and physics itself allows it. And the great secret to time travel is Gravity! More precisely the space-time distortion caused by its effects. We talked about fiction above, and you've seen this effect represented in fiction and maybe you haven't even noticed! The film interstellar 2014 shows this effect, so it is one of the films most praised by science thanks to its fidelity.
Effects of Gravity
One of the effects of the space-time distortion caused by gravity is related to the difference in time. For example, as in Interstellar, if you are under a stronger gravitational effect than Earth, time will pass more slowly for you, while for someone on Earth it takes 5 years, for you it may pass. just days.
Obstacles
If time travel is possible, even if limited to just “going” to the future, and not regressing, what prevents people from moving forward in time? Some of the reasons why this does not happen, the main ones are:
- Technology: Safe rockets, capable of harboring humans, safely on long journeys under large gravitational variations.
- Human Limit: The limits of the human body, is perhaps the main impediment. Humans are sociable, and fragile, a good part of the impediments is also one of the main problems to solve regarding getting the human to Mars. Among the problems are psychological, possible problems with eyesight and/or hearing… several health problems found in astronauts present on the ISS (International Space Station).
- High cost: High cost to produce, rockets, fly round trip trajectory, and keep the human alive and healthy.
Conclusion
Although very present in fiction, and considered by many to be something impossible…. The laws of physics allow us in theory to be able to travel in time. However, limited only to always moving forward, and never turning back. Perhaps with a better understanding of our universe, and the laws that govern it, we may also have that possibility.
Anyway, even being completely travel through time nowadays, it is far from being what we see and want, being completely unfeasible, both in terms of cost and work and problems that could bring to the traveler himself.
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