Is Time Travel Possible?

The dream of traveling through time is both ancient and universal. But where did humanity's fascination with time begin?

The concept of time travel has always fascinates the imagination of physicists. But is it really possible? If I say yes it is. We all are doing it now, aren't we? We all are traveling into the future one second at a time?

But can we travel much further into the future? Absolutely. If we could travel close to the speed of light

Time travel means moving forward and backward to different points in time, movement between different points in space, with the use of hypothetical medium or device known as "Time Machine". Time travel is a well known concept in philosophy and fiction.

According to this time travel theory, the faster you travel, the slower you experience time. Scientists have done some experiments to show that this is true.

For example, there was an experiment that used two clocks set to the exact same time. One clock stayed on Earth, while the other flew in an airplane (going in the same direction Earth rotates).

After the airplane flew around the world, scientists compared the two clocks. The clock on the fast-moving airplane was slightly behind the clock on the ground. So, the clock on the airplane was traveling slightly slower in time than 1 second per second.

Concept of Time

What is Time? Most people think of time as a constant but physicist Albert Einstein came up with an idea about how time works, it is relative. It can vary for different observers depending on their speed through space. Einstein said that time is the "fourth dimension". Space is a three - dimensional arena, which provides the location of the traveler with coordinates such as length, height, width. Time provides another coordinate "direction".

Possibilities of Time Travel

Our current understanding of fundamental physics tells us that the mechanism for traveling into the future is to use the Time Dilation effect of Special Relativity, which states that a moving clock appears to go slow when it is close to approach the speed of light. Experimental evidence for time dilation has been found in the decay of the atmospheric muons.

Time travel to the past is theoretically possible in certain general relativity that permit traveling faster than the speed of light, such as cosmic strings, wormholes.

The idea of traveling back in time is put forth in the "Grandfather Paradox", which says that if a person travel back in time and kill their own grandfather before the birth of their mother or father was born, prevents their own existence.

Time Travel in Fiction

Time travel is a common theme in fiction, such as literature, television, film and advertisement. In general, time travel stories focus on the consequences of traveling into the past or the future. The concept of time travel by mechanical means was popularized in H. G. Wells' 1895 story, The Time Machine.

Here are some films which are based on time travel:-

1. Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) : The Doctor and his companions travel in the TARDIS to the future of a post-apocalyptic world.

2. The Terminator (1984) : A cyborg is sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to destroy humanity by killing the future mother of its future savior.

3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) : To save Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk and his crew travel back to 1986 to retrieve and take back humpback whales, the only beings who can communicate with an alien probe that is threatening Earth.

4. Jumanji (1995) : After being trapped within the world of the Jumanji board game for 26 years after getting sucked into it in 1969, Alan Parish manages to reach the end of the game in the real world. 5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) : Hermione Granger receives a Time-Turner from Professor McGonagall, so she can attend more classes than time would normally allow. She and Harry later use the Time-Turner to save Sirius Black and Buckbeak. 6. Mr.Nobody (2009) : A romantic drama about Nemo Nobody, a 118-year-old man and the last mortal on Earth, who remembers alternate versions of his life and three ages when his life was changed by a decision.

7. Source Code (2011) :Captain (Colter Stevens) died in a helicopter crash and has been inserted in a computer program (Source Code) which transfers him to the body of a deceased person for the last eight minutes of his life. He cannot change the past, but he can alter events and change the future to avoid a terrorist attack.

8. Looper (2012) : Criminal organizations hire contract killers, called Loopers, to kill humans sent to them through time travel.

9. Interstellar (2014) : Set in the near future, a crew of astronauts travels through a wormhole to find a suitable new planet for humanity, experiencing time dilation on multiple occasions.

10. Avengers: Endgame (2019) : The Avengers travel back in time into previous films at their respective time periods to retrieve the Infinity stones.

Yes, time travel indeed a real thing. But it's not quite what you've seen in the movies. It is possible to experience time passing at a different rate than 1 second per second.