For the heck of it: A Sci-Fi Dilemma...

[Colin]

I was talking with one of my friends after work the other night, and somehow got onto this fun topic:

In theory, time travel is possible when you go faster than the speed of light... So, in all these Sci-Fi shows, we have faster than light travel (ala warp speed)... but they are going forward in time... why is that? If they are going faster than light, they should be going backwards in time... right?

I'd be interested in hearing your opinions and takes on this...

[Danielle]

I'm offa this thread. I know absolutely nothing of sci-fi, nor of time travel. But, just to see if I can understand maybe a particle:


Uh...


Hm...


Nope, not even a particle. :o Sorry!

[happyheathen]

Ummmm....

maybe that's why it's called Science Fiction, not Science Fact?:D

the usual thinking:

those aboard would experience 'normal' time, while everything outside regressed in time.

Luckily, I'll never need to find out for sure...

[Narfpinky]

Consider that radio waves travel at the speed of light (if not very close to, if I'm mistaken, poit.)

Supposidly, if you go faster than the speed of light, radio communications would be heard backwards, and it would start with the last one you heard before going faster than light. Your speed beyond the speed of light determines how quickly radio waves are picked-up. Travel twice the speed of light, you'd hear radio signals normal speed but reverse.

That theory would be just for radio (voice) signals. What would happen for TV signals problebly wouldn't work exactly the same.

Wht do you think of that?

Press 1 if you understand.
Press 2 if you are confused by Narfpinky.
Press # (Pound key) to bop Narfpinky on the head.

[Calhoun07]

#####################

sorry, couldn't resist!

Think of the possibilites here! In the future, man could find a way to tavel faster than light and reach out to distant stars. And since TV broadcasts go out into space, they will be able to tune in and watch old TV shows BEFORE they were re run on Nick At Nite!

[Narfpinky]

From calhoun07
#####################

n-nnaAARR-Rfff.



After calhoun07's pounding
And since TV broadcasts go out into space, they will be able to tune in and watch old TV shows BEFORE they were re run on Nick At Nite! [/B]


And you'd be able to go back to your favorite shows over and over again. It's better than TiVo!

[Sharklady]

I recall hearing that that going-fast-moves-you-differently-in-time theory got a significant boost when the Concord jet was first invented, and somebody took aboard one of those super-accurate molecular clocks. Upon landing, it was discovered the clock had, indeed, gained a fraction of a second over it's non-moving counterparts.

As to why the faster-than-light ships in the sci-fi series are still moving through time at the usual pace; in the case of 'Star Trek' I believe it was mentioned at some point, that this is due to the ship being enclosed in a warp field, where time-space behaves differently than it does in normal space. Since they never offered any details, this qualifies as a 'fudge' explaination. But at least somebody acknowledged the incongruity.

[Nftnat]

Then there's hope for those of us who missed Earthworm Jim. And the sonov-ovich song. And Star Warners. And the vomitorium & Spanish Inquisition sketches. And for that matter, the Censored Eleven, & the old toons from the old studios no longer available on tv. The big corporations may be able to halt all future broadcast, but they can't stop what has already happened. We just have to know where in space to be, & when. I'm reminded of a youth scifi movie where they were picking up old radio signals. A certain r&r song crossed their path; one of the kids had the ship change course so he could hear it again. I refuse to shut out all hope that we will be able to encounter these "lost" gems again. I live in hope. Actually, I live in Texarkana but that's close enough.

[Anthonynotes]

Supposedly, going faster than light (or at light speeds) usually equals time travel into the *future* in a lot of science fiction, based on that time for the one travelling that fast would seem to move very slowly/not at all while time on Earth moves forward normally...thus, a seeming two-minute trip for the light-speed traveller (and from his perspective) would actually from an Earth dweller's standpoint result in his being gone for a long, long time (years/decades/centuries/whatever). Thus, "time travel" into the future. In sci-fi, travelling faster than light also in some cases is referred to as breaking the "Time barrier", and allows access to the "timestream"/"fourth dimension"/etc. (and thus can also travel into the past).

In the old comics, Superman had the ability to travel in time by accelerating around the Earth at either light speed or going faster than light speed...an ability used in the old Superboy stories to allow him to travel into the future repeatedly (from 20th century Smallville) to be a member of the 30th-century superhero team known as the "Legion of Superheroes" (and with many a memorable Legion story to boot :-) and return home at the end of each Legion meeting...

-B.

[The Mad Hatter]

My vast powers as an English major have completely failed me in comprehending this thread.

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
My vast powers as an English major have completely failed me in comprehending this thread.

Well, *my* vast English-major-powers *have*... I think.... :-)

-B.

[don Jaime]

My tape of Star Warners is a rarity?

[DR. BELCH]

--Beakman could explain it to us simply using two marbles, a block of Jello, and a stopwatch. Pity his show got axed from CBS a couple of years ago (though he was on a float in the Rose Bowl Parade--I think that's the one--over the holidays, frizzy hair, pea-green lab coat, and all).
In a story I wrote, one character asks the other why they aren't aging backwards as they travel through time. The other just said it involved a lot of complex algebra and calculus even he didn't fully understand. I'd say that's just a good an explanation as any.
I suppose if one goes at a high enough speed, it'd create a "time vacuum" of sorts...I wonder if one would have enough time to get airsick, and if so, whether gravity would come into play there?

[Craig Marinaro]

I haven't read any of this thread, but I wanted to contribute to it. So I'll just pick out random quotations and reply to them.


why is that?

Because I said so.


I'd be interested in hearing your opinions and takes on this...

And I'd be interested in hearing *YOUR* opinions and takes on this:

http://toonzone.net/craig/goatman.jpg


Wht do you think of that?

I think Brian really needs to reintroduce the spell-check feature.


And since TV broadcasts go out into space, they will be able to tune in and watch old TV shows BEFORE they were re run on Nick At Nite!

Well, HBO is showing the first three seasons of The Sopranos beginning next week. It's a start.


I live in hope. Actually, I live in Texarkana but that's close enough.

And then we'll go back in time to when that joke was still fresh! ;)


The big corporations may be able to halt all future broadcast, but they can't stop what has already happened.

In one of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, there's a bit about a guy who lived as a hermit his whole life, and wrote beautiful poetry, which was discovered and appreciated after his death. The book publishers eventually went back in time and made him a celebrity in his own lifetime. Since he was no longer a lonely hermit, his poetry was ruined for the whole timestream.

Current-day corporate stupidity traveling back to influence the past is probably the biggest argument one could find against time travel, if the past can be changed. Imagine tons of company heads traveling back to the writing of the Constitution, trying to convince our forefathers to slip in a clause making them the Official Deoderant of the USA or something.


I'm reminded of a youth scifi movie where they were picking up old radio signals.

I'm reminded of that wild night at Club Med back in '86, when I drank 23 bottles of seltzer water, and woke up bleary-eyed the next morning in the year 1962 in a Turkish bath with Stan Lee.

That was odd.


In sci-fi, travelling faster than light also in some cases is referred to as breaking the "Time barrier",

And in show biz, having good luck is referred to as breaking a "leg."


My vast powers as an English major have completely failed me in comprehending this thread.

My vast power to pull pennies out of thin air is a big hit at parties.

But time travel is a bad idea, at any rate. Think of all the repercussions. Here's a scenario, free of charge:

The year 4254. Coca-Cola costs approximately the price of a small houseboat today. But time travel is commonly available. So, somebody gets the smart idea: "Hey! Why not just travel back to the 1950's whenever we want some nice cool, refreshing cola, and get a whole bottle for a measly nickel!" Everyone thinks this is a great idea, so everyone does it. Since a nickel is worth so little to them, our 4254-dwelling friends buy bottles and bottles and bottles of the stuff. Soda production becomes the most booming industry in America. By the time the 2,030 years pass to 4254, the entire world economy is totally dependant on the soft drink industry. But suddenly, we hit the point where everyone stopped buying Coca-Cola in the present. *NO ONE* buys the stuff. Their income plummets. The stock market dives straight to the bottom and hits its head when it gets there. Everyone is bankrupt. They have to hock their time machines to buy food. Without time machines, they can't get Coca-Cola. They go into caffeine-and-sugar withdrawal, since they've been drinking so many bottles of the stuff every day. Everyone is ticked as can be, but they don't know who to take it out on. Finally, someone realizes that none of this would have happened if those bloody fools in the 1950's didn't charge such idiotically low prices. Glad to have a scapegoat, the people are consumed by their desire for revenge. They declare war on the 1950's. Pulling together what time machines they can get their hands on, they send troops back in time with advanced 4254-era weaponry. The people of the '50's, unprepared for another war so soon on the heels of World War II, are unprepared for the attack, and their weapons are no match anyhow. After some of the most pointlessly violent battles in history, the entire world is nuked out of existence in 1956. And naturally, that's the end of that.

-C

[Danielle]

Originally posted by DR BELCH
In a story I wrote, one character asks the other why they aren't aging backwards as they travel through time. The other just said it involved a lot of complex algebra and calculus even he didn't fully understand. I'd say that's just a good an explanation as any.

True.

Uh...does he not know the equation, or does he not know how to figure out the equation?

Geez, I didn't even understand that...

Does he know the answer to the equation, or does he...

Forget it.


Guess.


And I'd be interested in hearing *YOUR* opinions and takes on this:

http://toonzone.net/craig/goatman.jpg

Um......I'd guess it's a goatman. A satyr, perhaps?


Also posted by DR BELCH and no, I don't know why I diodn't post this earlier
--Beakman could explain it to us simply using two marbles, a block of Jello, and a stopwatch.

What kind of Jello?

[Sharklady]

> And I'd be interested in hearing *YOUR* opinions and takes on this: <

I'd guess this guy wears only front-buttoning shirts.

[DR. BELCH]

DANIELLE:
Uh...does he not know the equation, or does he not know how to figure out the equation?
Presumably he knows it but it takes too darn long to explain (and would bore the readers to sleep). It's like asking someone to explain how they do something they've done for so long it's second nature to them, like a funny voice or that little flatulent noise with their hands, and watching them fumble with it. Time travel seems to be a trial-and-error thing, in the few stories I wrote around it...one of the first lessons was, don't lubricate the gyroscopic gears with dish soap.


What kind of Jello?
I'm not sure. Which kind looks best on camera? It'd have to be translucent enough to see the marbles...I'm not sure what gelatin has to do with time, mind you, but at least once all's said and done one can eat the experiment afterwards. (Just remove the marbles first.)

As for that guy--well, I was thinking it was a variant of Steve Martin's "wild and crazy" schtick...or a victim of a horrible Phineas Gage-type mishap involving an exploding goat. Looks like something off of www.rotten.com....

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

I saw this thread last week.

Seriously, has anyone here seen the anime "Gunbuster," let alone heard of it? It has very interesting theories on space time travel.

[Narfpinky]

Originally posted by Craig

And I'd be interested in hearing *YOUR* opinions and takes on this:

http://toonzone.net/craig/goatman.jpg




Well, it's the latest trend: Surgically implanted horns.

No -- Wait! Egad! It's a human version of a mouseolope! They do exist!

[Craig Marinaro]

Danielle suggests:

A satyr, perhaps?

No, it's not satire. I'd say it's more broad visual humor.

[Danielle]

DR BELCH:

Ah. So I wouldn't be able to explain to anyone how I crack my toes.

Narfpinky:

If his name were Jack, he could be a jackalope!

Craig:

You know what I mean and you know that I know that you know it!

[happyheathen]

Originally posted by Danielle

Ah. So I wouldn't be able to explain to anyone how I crack my toes.


Let's ship ALL toe-crackers to Rhode Island!!!

[BourgeoisBuffoon]

-I'd say the horn wearing guy is just a guy with horns on his head in some green pool. :p

Or he could be trying out to be a bull for a bullfighting competition :D

[Danielle]

Originally posted by happyheathen


Let's ship ALL toe-crackers to Rhode Island!!!

Whattabout knee-crackers?


Originally posted by Borgeois Buffoon
Or he could be trying out to be a bull for a bullfighting competition :D

Yeah, but who's the matador?

Tora, tora!

[BourgeoisBuffoon]

>Yeah, but who's the matador?

Actually, if that's the bull we see in the pic, we probably DON'T want to see the matador...

[Danielle]

Originally posted by BorgeoisBuffoon

Actually, if that's the bull we see in the pic, we probably DON'T want to see the matador...

Hmmm...

This Picture Is *Not* For The Weak-Hearted... (http://www.allfunnypictures.com/turbull.htm)

[Craig Marinaro]

Hee hee...the "Picture loading too slowly?" caption is wonderfully ironic.

[Danielle]

Originally posted by Craig
Hee hee...the "Picture loading too slowly?" caption is wonderfully ironic.

That caption sounds gramatically-incorrect...Problem is, I can't think of anything that sounds correct.