a physics professor at the University of Washington has some unorthodox theories on "quantum retrocausality". $35K from private donors is funding his research into communicating with the past.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/319367_timeguy12.html

ethical concerns have been expressed of course, with a myriad of unintended consequences that could result

prime example: http://tinyurl.com/2s4x6q

6/12/2007 3:03:40 PM

This phyics professor is no stranger to love. He knows the rules and so do I. A full commitment is what he's dreaming of, and I couldn't get this from any other guy. This professor just wants to tell me how he's feeling. He's got to make me understand that he's never going to give me up, let me down, turn around and desert me, never going to make me cry, say goodbye, tell a lie and hurt me.

6/12/2007 3:05:39 PM

very interesting

6/13/2007 1:40:14 AM

I read that all... very interesting.

This is one of those things that makes me wish I was super rich.

He should contact Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.

6/13/2007 1:56:09 AM

time travel to the past, of any sort, even quantum, is not possible.

6/13/2007 2:17:57 AM

why not? seems like something humans could eventually invent

6/13/2007 4:46:59 AM

Quote :

"This phyics professor is no stranger to love. "

is this the new fresh prince schtick?

6/13/2007 8:12:36 AM

Quote :

"time travel to the past, of any sort, even quantum, is not possible."

a bold statement.

6/13/2007 10:28:30 AM

Quote :

"time travel to the past, of any sort, even quantum, is not possible. "

haha i love statements like that. as if we're so smart now we know exactly what we can and can't do. remember when we couldn't fly?

or couldn't land on the moon, hell even put anything into orbit?

6/13/2007 11:20:51 AM

I don't think time travel will ever make it to any consumer market. What's impossible is the regulation of time travel, if the technology was ever created and released to the public.



Imagine what the world would be like if every tom, dick and harry travelled back a few months to bet millions on FLA to beat OSU, or the Colts to win a super bowl.

6/13/2007 11:27:38 AM

or to kill their sonofabitch grandpa and marry their own grandma.

6/13/2007 12:44:03 PM

Quote :

"haha i love statements like that. as if we're so smart now we know exactly what we can and can't do. remember when we couldn't fly? or couldn't land on the moon, hell even put anything into orbit?"

Completely different issues. We knew about things that could fly (and we'd had dirigibles for a while), and we could see the moon.

With time travel, there's no way to resolve the paradoxes, so it's not possible.

6/13/2007 1:15:53 PM

Future me just told me that this is indeed the guy whos name is stamped on his phone. (or embedded bionic communication device)

6/13/2007 1:48:48 PM

If I could travel back in time, i'd tell myself not to click on this thread

6/13/2007 3:53:22 PM

This is how I have always looked at the issues, if time travel were ever going to be invented, then chances are someone would have already come back and done something to let us know... and you cant say well it hasnt been invented yet, because if it were EVER going to be invented then it doesnt matter when it happens they should be able to come back.

6/13/2007 4:12:10 PM

like moron said, sorry, this just isn't going to happen.

Time travel into the future, however, is real and possible (or "time dilation", or whatever you want to call it). I wouldn't mind seeing more funding on that.... some super-gravity machine or ultra-fast rocket ships, either of which would provide travel into the future. Plus they would have practical applications like advances in interstellar travel.

6/13/2007 4:15:26 PM

maybe moron created time travel and he just is denying it so none of us figure it out...

6/13/2007 4:48:57 PM

Quote :

"With time travel, there's no way to resolve the paradoxes, so it's not possible."

except for the example used for the quarks in different states. they tested this in labs in california and new york. when a quark in ny was turned "positive" they reported an instant turning towards "negative" of the other quark in cali

and this is what the scientist is addressing in this particular time travel experiment, backwards time tunneling

[Edited on June 13, 2007 at 7:29 PM. Reason : a;slkjf]

6/13/2007 7:29:02 PM

sweet

subspace communication may be possible!

6/13/2007 7:37:15 PM

^^ I meant "time travel to the past" there, that's not time travel to the past, that's faster-than-light travel, but it never goes t<0 only t=0 (where it should be t>0).

Press releases are a poor source of scientific description, so i'm going to assume that this Cramer guy was talking about something else.

[Edited on June 13, 2007 at 7:39 PM. Reason : ^ that's a different issue that time-travel-to-past]

6/13/2007 7:39:37 PM

Wolf Web posts are a poor source of scientific description, so

6/13/2007 11:05:39 PM

Quote :

"This is how I have always looked at the issues, if time travel were ever going to be invented, then chances are someone would have already come back and done something to let us know."

Yeah, really. You'd think that this guy's future self would come back and give him a few pointers along the way... unless his future self is a jerk and just wants him to sweat it out. Then again if he could only invent a time machine based on pointers received from his future self then how would his future self have come up with the idea in the first place.

Time travel to the future is already possible. I'm doing it now.

6/14/2007 7:27:33 AM

I read a theory one time that they believe time travel is possible once we are able to build the machine to do it. Then there would be a "receptor" that could actually help a machine rematerialize

The theory in the book "Timeline" is pretty whack too

6/14/2007 8:42:49 AM

how so?

Timeline delt with alternate dimensions, not direct time travel in our reality.

[Edited on June 14, 2007 at 8:53 AM. Reason : if I remember correctly]

6/14/2007 8:53:05 AM

Quote :

"Time travel to the future is already possible. I'm doing it now."

even more so than that, time dilation is possible and proven. i.e. it is possible for a person or machine to travel forward in time, which simply means he ages more slowly than a point-of-reference, generally The Earth. Some purists would claim that "true time travel" can only occur if the traveller doesn't age at all, while the earth ages x days/years, but this can only be achieved accellerating to, travelling at, and decellerating from the speed of light in zero time, which of course it impossible (travelling at the speed of light itself is impossible. forget about accellerating and decellerating). But maybe we can all agree that time travel will have been achieved if the traveller ages 1 year, while the earth ages 10 year. Or the traveller 50 years and the earth 1000. (more likely in the forseeable future, though, it would be more like the traveller ages 9 years, 364 days and the earth agest 10 years)

How "far" we can go into the future only depends on how fast we can make a ship or how much intense gravity we can produce.

6/14/2007 10:20:01 AM

Quote :

"If I could travel back in time, i'd tell myself not to click on this thread"

wins

6/14/2007 11:58:24 AM