• A Physicist Is Building a Time Machine to Reconnect With His Dead Father
    112 replies, posted
[quote]The hour is late. His scientific papers were published years ago, filled with equations wrought by the energies of a younger man. But at 69, theoretical physicist Ron Mallett still goes to work every day to build a time machine based on his most elegant construct: At the other end of the equation, he believes, is his father. Boyd Mallett died when Ron was 10. Like Telemachus out for Odysseus, he vowed as a boy to sail back through time in a device to warn the older Mallett of the heart attack that would take his life on the night of his 11th wedding anniversary. A University of Connecticut research professor who for years taught in the classroom, Mallett immersed himself in the mysteries of time and space, crafting equations derived from the work of Albert Einstein.[/quote] [url]http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-27/a-physicist-is-building-a-time-machine-to-reconnect-with-his-dead-father[/url] Oh.
Good luck I guess...Just don't blow us up.
Well interstellar taught me that love is the most powerful force in the universe
watch him actually do it
I always have liked biological sciences more than physics, but this is still really cool even if nothing comes of it. Have at it, man.
mad science is the best science
What if his dad had the heart attack because he went back in time, and the dad was so shocked that it killed him. I mean, isn't the universe supposed to correct paradoxes like this somehow? Edit: From what I understand on wikipedia, I'm speaking about the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_paradox"]predestination paradox[/URL].
[QUOTE=James xX;47405783]What if his dad had the heart attack because he went back in time, and the dad was so shocked that it killed him. I mean, isn't the universe supposed to correct paradoxes like this somehow?[/QUOTE] There's no consensus on how it's meant to work because the the consensus is that it simply won't work.
The shear effort he's put in over his life is deserving of respect, I honestly hope he does it.
I think you mean writers because theres actually no such thing as a paradox
[QUOTE=mentalmoustache;47405794]I think you mean writers because theres actually no such thing as a paradox[/QUOTE] that won't be proven until it actually happens and it won't happen because it can't be proven
[QUOTE]At the other end of the equation, he believes, is his father.[/QUOTE] That's a whole new tier of poetic.
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;47405791]There's no consensus on how it's meant to work because the the consensus is that it simply won't work.[/QUOTE] Just because it won't work doesn't mean we shouldn't try and find out how it [I]would[/I] work given a number of assumptions, however unlikely or impossibly those assumptions would be what happens in reality.
[QUOTE=James xX;47405783]What if his dad had the heart attack because he went back in time, and the dad was so shocked that it killed him. I mean, isn't the universe supposed to correct paradoxes like this somehow? Edit: From what I understand on wikipedia, I'm speaking about the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_paradox"]predestination paradox[/URL].[/QUOTE] Seeing as how no one has traveled in time before, I'm going to say no.
[QUOTE=James xX;47405824]Just because it won't work doesn't mean we shouldn't try and find out how it [I]would[/I] work given a number of assumptions, however unlikely or impossibly those assumptions would be what happens in reality.[/QUOTE] Well to be able to even theorize about the particular details we would have to understand how would it work, and since we still aren't aware of any way it could work, we simply cannot come up with meaningful details of it that will be anything more than just random fantasy.
Remember don't do anything to change the timeline unless it turns out you're supposed to in that case don't not do it
wow it's like something straight out of a movie
[QUOTE=elitehakor;47405726]Well interstellar taught me that love is the most powerful force in the universe[/QUOTE] Yeah, my face folded into itself out of cringe during that monologue
Hey if anybody would like to form a medieval cult of modern sciences when this guy's work turns out to be legititmate, I'm all ears.
[QUOTE=Anglor;47405862]Yeah, my face folded into itself out of cringe during that monologue[/QUOTE] my favourite part was when Matt Damon showed up for an utterly useless 40 minutes of the film
I could see him accidentially instead creating a multiverse hopper where he enters a world where everyone in the world is his father simultaneously having heart attacks
[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;47405827]Seeing as how no one has traveled in time before, I'm going to say no.[/QUOTE] How do you know?
I never really liked the kind of time travel everyone talks about. There are just so many things that could go wrong. I'd prefer a type of time travel that allows one to see the past, but not interact with it. I want to go back and see important historical events unfold right before my eyes, but I don't want to accidentally do something that changes history. Heck, maybe that's why we don't see any time travelers.
Watch him do it only to find out that the universe operates on multi-verse theory. Still, I wish this man the best of luck. As long as he doesn't accidentally butt fuck reality.
[QUOTE=Solo Wing;47405904]Watch him do it only to find out that the universe operates on multi-verse theory. Still, I wish this man the best of luck. As long as he doesn't accidentally butt fuck reality.[/QUOTE] Well if the universe does, then he will be able to save his father's life in that universe. You can get philosophical about if that is or isn't his father but if I was him, I would be happy with that outcome.
I'm sure this dude was featured in a documentary I saw many years ago
Someone wanna lend him a DeLorean?
I'm pretty convinced any time traveler would have to be self correcting, so say he does tell his father, he would have to still die because he has to die and in such a manner that its surprising and shocking with no evidence of a time traveler giving him info
Why is he still dead then
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;47405926]Well if the universe does, then he will be able to save his father's life in that universe. You can get philosophical about if that is or isn't his father but if I was him, I would be happy with that outcome.[/QUOTE] Realizing that I had simply jumped to another reality where I'd saved his life rather than actually going back in time and saving him would kind of be bittersweet, because there'd be a billion other realities where he'd died and you'd simply navigated the events to the reality where he survives.
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