Steven Hawking says time travel possible

[Kieran McConville]

WRT the aliens thing, of course Fermi's Paradox has had a fair run over the years (ie. if they were out there, we'd hear from them)... but I do wonder, really.

Just to take an example, the far rim of our own galaxy is what... I can't be arsed looking up Wikipedia, but it is thousands of light-years. What makes us think we would hear?

I think the striking absence of news from our quarter of the galaxy does tend to slant the ledger toward 'probably just us here'. But with the proviso that 'here' represents a relatively small sample.

Modern televised 'Doctor Who' irritates the bejesus out of me in this respect, what with their cuddly alien-race-of-the-week invading London (I was going to say 'earth' but really, it's London they're after) on a routine basis.

 

[cobl04]

^what about Kang and Kodos?


my apologies to JT and Wanderer, it's not really news at all, it was just in the paper this morning and i found it very interesting and hoped it would spark a cool discussion.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

I watched the Hitchhiker's Guid to the Galaxy tv series over 25 years ago now, and I'm still waiting for Ford Prefect to rescue me and take me the Restaurant at the End of the Universe so we can get smashed on Pangalactic GargleBusters

 

[A_Wanderer]

^what about Kang and Kodos?


my apologies to JT and Wanderer, it's not really news at all, it was just in the paper this morning and i found it very interesting and hoped it would spark a cool discussion.

Apologise for what? It's a cool topic.

 

[kramwest1]

The best argument I've heard about the existence of aliens is the pure numbers thing, but bearing in mind that humans and Earth might be on the older-side as far as life in the universe goes. The universe is roughly 13 billion years old, Earth not quite 5 billion. Humans haven't been around that long, but sadly, we may be some of the universe's oldest residents which is why we haven't heard from the other youngsters yet. They're still evolving in their Mica sandwiches just on the shores of their oceans.

(I should phrase it as "this universe" or "our universe" because I strongly believe there are an infinite number of universes out there. Listen to Brian Greene talk about "the Multi-verse" and you'll never think the same way about the universe again.")

WNYC - Radiolab � The (Multi) Universe(s)

 

[kramwest1]

Time travel...meh.
Anyone who has been on a long trip or away from home for college knows that returning to the future is annoying at best, alienating and disorienting at worst. I want to get on a lightspeed craft to go out and explore the galaxy. My traveling into the future only would matter to the family I would leave behind. I wouldn't return home.

Traveling back in time?
I don't believe it's possible (I'll take Entropy for $1000 Alex.). It's so relative that it only would matter to the single person who would do it. No one else would notice any change in the future because only that one person would have the reference to make sense of it. It could be happening, but none of us could recognize it.

 

[Jive Turkey]

WRT the aliens thing, of course Fermi's Paradox has had a fair run over the years (ie. if they were out there, we'd hear from them)

I dont think this is a fair argument. How many species are there on Earth? If you stayed in your house and waited for one of them to contact you, you'd be waiting a long time. It seems unlikely that an alien race would be intelligent in the same way that we are. Not to say they'd be unintelligent, just that they'd evolve a different kind of intelligence and not necessarily one that we would in any way be able to meaningfully interact with

 

[Jive Turkey]

my apologies to JT and Wanderer, it's not really news at all, it was just in the paper this morning and i found it very interesting and hoped it would spark a cool discussion.

And ya, dont be silly. Cool topic indeed

 

[cobl04]

dont be silly.

 

[Tiger Edge]

I was watching Avatar this weekend and it struck me how likely it would be to find a planet in the near future where creatures like those on Pandora existed. Not the humanoids, but the six-legged horses, flying thingies and the rhinos on crack. Could you imagine what kind of images the probe would send back?
C'mon, Steve Jobs, make iProbe happen.

 

[deep]

I was watching Avatar this weekend and it struck me how likely it would be to find a planet in the near future where creatures like those on Pandora existed. Not the humanoids, but the six-legged horses, flying thingies and the rhinos on crack.

Actually the six-legged animals, were one of the few disappointments in Avatar.

The lemurs or monkeys had 6 limbs too. So the NaVi should have had two small nubs adjacent to their rib cages where these 2 unneeded limbs once were. (or the monkeys/ lemurs should have only had 4 limbs.)

 

[Tiger Edge]

The Na'vi were created by Eywa. They did not evolve from the lemurs.

 

[deep]

Yes, but Eywa and nature are in harmony.
And six limbed creature's locomotion would not be patterned after 4 limbed locomation as depicted in this story.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Actually the six-legged animals, were one of the few disappointments in Avatar.

The lemurs or monkeys had 6 limbs too. So the NaVi should have had two small nubs adjacent to their rib cages where these 2 unneeded limbs once were. (or the monkeys/ lemurs should have only had 4 limbs.)

Not if enough time had passed. Maybe they are much more distant than we are to chimps

 

[Jive Turkey]

Started off with a nice little idea about grannies travelling forward through time, but now it's got silly.

 

[theedgeu2]

I'm travelling through time right now. The future, it doesn't look too fun.

I can tell you that time travelling in the past would be cool! I always wanted to go back to certain events and relive them. Like I wouldn't alter anything or no one would notice me, I could just relive everything exactly as it all happened. The smells, the feeling, everything.

 

[U2DMfan]

(I should phrase it as "this universe" or "our universe" because I strongly believe there are an infinite number of universes out there. Listen to Brian Greene talk about "the Multi-verse" and you'll never think the same way about the universe again.")

No kidding.
His series "The Elegant Universe" that aired on PBS is available for free online.
NOVA | The Elegant Universe | PBS

It's nothing less than fascinating.

 

[U2DMfan]

Modern televised 'Doctor Who' irritates the bejesus out of me in this respect, what with their cuddly alien-race-of-the-week invading London (I was going to say 'earth' but really, it's London they're after) on a routine basis.

I've always hated that stuff. Just like I hated the Ewoks in Star Wars.
In fact, I hate cheesy aliens in anything but cuddly and cheesy is doubly crap.

I am trying to think of what I would consider to be cool aliens...eh, outside of the fact that water was their Achilles heel, I thought the aliens in M Night's Signs were pretty cool.

 

[deep]

The best argument I've heard about the existence of aliens is the pure numbers thing, but bearing in mind that humans and Earth might be on the older-side as far as life in the universe goes. The universe is roughly 13 billion years old, Earth not quite 5 billion. Humans haven't been around that long, but sadly, we may be some of the universe's oldest residents which is why we haven't heard from the other youngsters yet. They're still evolving in their Mica sandwiches just on the shores of their oceans.

(I should phrase it as "this universe" or "our universe" because I strongly believe there are an infinite number of universes out there. Listen to Brian Greene talk about "the Multi-verse" and you'll never think the same way about the universe again.")

WNYC - Radiolab � The (Multi) Universe(s)

sure, there are some kinds of life forms out there

in the vastness.

but anything like the common aliens depicted in films and books are highly unlikely

also because of the great distances, we will never likely experience any interaction with them.

 

[U2DMfan]

FTR, if you don't believe there is extra-terrestrial life (of some kind) outside of the Earth, you simply have no appreciation for the odds. That's my opinion on it.
It's arrogance of the highest order. No, I am not talking about little green men abducting Fred from Montana, but just life, in general, has to be something near a statistically probabilistic certainty.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I dont think this is a fair argument. How many species are there on Earth? If you stayed in your house and waited for one of them to contact you, you'd be waiting a long time. It seems unlikely that an alien race would be intelligent in the same way that we are. Not to say they'd be unintelligent, just that they'd evolve a different kind of intelligence and not necessarily one that we would in any way be able to meaningfully interact with

I didn't say it was fair, but that versions of that argument exist. I think it might be based on the notion that a lot of the stars in this galaxy are in fact older than ours.

Personally, I think the odds favour life, but maybe not in great abundance, simply on the sheer numbers involved.

 

[cobl04]

imagine if there was a form of life out there, that was 50 times as intelligent as us. the mind boggles.

Started off with a nice little idea about grannies travelling forward through time, but now it's got silly.

haha

I've always hated that stuff. Just like I hated the Ewoks in Star Wars.
In fact, I hate cheesy aliens in anything but cuddly and cheesy is doubly crap.

I am trying to think of what I would consider to be cool aliens...eh, outside of the fact that water was their Achilles heel, I thought the aliens in M Night's Signs were pretty cool.

the aliens in Men in Black were pretty cool.

 

[the iron horse]

Where are these time travel guys?

These people thousands or millions of years from now.

If we have it all figured out, they should be here by now.

You think


And those beings from other planets...

Why don't they just land in front of the White House?

 

[Tiger Edge]

Maybe the world does end in 2012 and that's why we don't have any human time travelers.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Or maybe it doesn't.

Interestingly, for the naysayers out there, there are apparently some scenarios out there - I don't know how speculative, probably very - that suggest it might be possible by certain means to send information back through time. But forget about sending yourself.

 

[Jive Turkey]

They're already able to teleport information from one point to another

 

[kramwest1]

They're already able to teleport information from one point to another

Heisenberg --> pwnd

 

[INDY500]

I know one guy from the future.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Holy crap. Ive never thought about this before. it makes perfect sense!

 

[AliEnvy]

Time travel possible, but only moving forwards, says Stephen Hawking | News.com.au

comes a week after he said aliens exist.

Can't wait to see what comes next week.

The latest doesn't disappoint lol...

Colonize space or face extinction: Hawking - Science - Canoe.ca

“Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. We have made remarkable progress in the last hundred years. But if we want to continue beyond the next hundred years, our future is in space.”