I’m sure that we are all familiar with the movie “Back to the Future”. When it comes to time travel it appears that all we need is a flux capacitor and a Delorean capable of running up to 88 miles per hour. Easy enough. However, this movie turns time travel into such a simple concept that it surely must be purely fiction. Although there are many scientific questions that individuals often know some information about, time travel is most definitely not one of them. I for one do not even know where to begin when it comes to the idea of traveling to another period of time, but through the conduction of a little research, I was able to comprehend the direction science is headed to make this idea a reality. The idea of time travel when thought about seems to be far-fetched and absolute nonsense however, there are many studies that have been conducted in order to make positive steps into the future.

When it comes to time travel, there is much more than simply creating a way to enter either the past of future. To use the “Back to the Future” example again, the movie consists of a series of events that Marty must make sure unfold exactly as they happened or risk altering time itself. This concept can be explained further through the Grandfather Paradox which poses the question as to what would happen if time were to be altered. The link provided gives a situation in which “Tim” travels back in time to kill his grandfather who is already dead. The problem that “Tim” encounters is that he knows that his grandfather will die eventually of natural causes which poses the question of what will happen if he changes this by killing his grandfather himself. The Grandfather Paradox can be applied to any example where one travels backwards in time and attempts to change the course of historic themselves. Since time travel has not become truly possible yet, scientists are unsure of what the actual affects would be of this action.

There have been a number of different theories regarding ways in which humans can successfully time travel. An article, published on the Guardian by James Randerson, explains that the famous Cambridge physicist Steven Hawking spent a period of his career attempting to prove that time travel was not possible. His argument was clear that if it were, we would likely have been visited already by time travelers. However, according to the laws of physics, there is nothing that prevents the movement through time. Since then Hawking has changed his opinion of time travel however, he remains firm in his belief that it is still unpractical. Another famous physicist, Albert Einstein, explained time with his theory of special relativity which states, “that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else. Approaching the speed of light, a person inside a spaceship would age much slower than his twin at home.” This theory gives a relatively clear depiction of what scientists would need to achieve in order to successfully travel through time.

Now that the question of what time travel is along with the dangers that could emerge have been answered the underlying question remains of how scientists plan to do this. One major idea is through the use of worm holes. In order to time travel with this theory, one would need to travel faster than the speed of light which would give the object a length of zero and an infinite mass. However, scientists have begun to believe that through the use of a controlled wormhole this might become a possibility.

Another theory that everyone is familiar with is through the creation of a time machine. The idea behind a time machine is that the devise turns time lines back on themselves to form a continuous loop. The issue is that in order to achieve this, the machine needs an exotic form of matter otherwise known as negative energy density. Although theoretically, this form of matter could exist, scientists predict that it would be in too small of a quantity to be used in a time machine. Instead, scientists have looked into creating a machine without the use of this matter. A different approach has been thought of which involves a doughnut shaped hole within a sphere of normal matter. In simplest terms, the time traveler would simply take laps around the machine and then go back in time upon each lap that they complete. This theory still has many barriers that it must overcome but it could potentially be a major contender in the race through time.

Although the world has yet to witness the phenomenon of time travel, there is still hope that it could be in our future. Through the help of advanced science, individuals are making positive steps in the direction of successful time travel. I for one am very interested in the topic as there have been various movies conveying the mystery of time travel that has yet to be solved. The ideas regarding how humans will successfully travel through time consists of a lengthy list which is why I chose to discuss two that we are all likely familiar with. With that being said, there are many other methods scientists are testing in the hope of creating a way to time travel. Although this concept may seem like serious fiction to some it, could perhaps be something that we become accustomed to someday in the future.