Is Time Travel Possible?

For many years, decades, even centuries, science fiction writers have written books on time traveling, whether if it is going back into the past, or going into the future. But as we learn more and more every day, we start to understand that things that seem impossible might be possible, like time travel.

Time travel has been characterized as impossible numerous of times, but actually, when you put the pieces of the puzzle together, time travel is indeed possible. Einstein's special theory of relativity allows this to happen, because time is like a flowing river, and if you alter the river, you can create other rivers. This theory overturned Newton's ideas on time, which he thought was more like an arrow. But Einstein's works pretty good.

So what does this have to do with anything?

According to Einstein's special theory, space and time is one thing -- space-time, or, the space-time continuum, if you want to sound smart. This in turn, when traveling near the cosmic speed limit, the speed of light -- which is roughly 186,000 miles per second, time slows down dramatically. This effect is known as time dilation, which allows a human being to go into the future by moving near or at the speed of light.

This is responsible for the famous "twin paradox." And this is how it works:


The three inertial frames are 1) at-home twin (Ann) 2) the going-away twin (Bob) and 3) the coming-back twin (Bob).

It doesn't make any difference that the last two are physically the same twin--they still define different inertial frames.

Ann stays at home and Bob rockets away at 3/5 light speed. Time dilation lies at 80%. Bob lets 4 years pass. Bob returns at 3/5 light speed, again taking 4 years. Ann thinks 10 years have passed, and Ann and Bob agree that Bob is two years younger.

Important question: what is the relative speed of the two Bob frames? On first glance, it would appear that one is going 3/5c in one direction and 3/5c in the other direction, so that the difference between the two frames is 6/5c! Faster than light? No, special relativity does not add speeds this way. The actual difference is only 15/17c, fast but not faster than light. Why is this important? We'll see.

Now, since special relativity lets us use either rest frame, we assume Bob is the at-home twin. Ann speeds away at 3/5c. No problem so far. But after 4 years of waiting, Bob must change his inertial frame. If we allow Ann to return, we've only restated the problem with the names switched. In the first version, Ann stayed in an inertial frame, and she must stay in an inertial frame in this version. Bob zooms off after Ann at 15/17 light speed (now we know why it was important), and of course catches up. It takes him 4 years, and he has seen 8 years since Ann left. Ann has aged 10 years. Same result. No paradox.

As a result, if you have a powerful spaceship that can travel at the speed of light, you can age very slowly as you are moving through space, only to get to Earth to be in the future.

Now, that might be going into the future, but what about going into the past? It is possible to go to the past by building a time machine, but the energy required for is unimaginable. What will need to be done for a time machine to be effective in going back in time is for it to alter space-time, basically warping space and time with strong energy. This would cause you to move back in time, but, we have to look at the laws of physics. No, we cannot go back in time to save Abraham Lincoln from getting shot, because according to the laws of physics & logic, you can only go back in time to the point where the first time machine was turned on. How is this logic? Because what are you going to arrive in to? This also answers the question, "If time travel is possible then why aren't the technologically advanced humans coming back from the future to visit us?" The simple answer is nobody has turned on the first time machine. That's what the 1840s people must be saying now too? Why aren't the people from the year 2012 coming to visit us from the 1840s? For that reason, because the people from the 1840s never build a time machine, so we can't visit them. This will answer the same, why aren't the people from the year 3000 visiting us? Because us 2012ers haven't built our first time machine.

So let's say an inventor assembles a time machine today, May 25, 2012AD at 6:08pm. As time moves forward, you can only go back in time to that point -- May 25, 2012AD at 6:08pm, and no further down, because, the first time machine was turned on at that given time.

So sadly, we cannot save Abraham Lincoln. But, there still is an opportunity, that is if aliens have done this before, then we can harness their power and possibly even go back as to see the Egyptians build the pyramids. Very unlikely, but you can't rule it out of the equation.

Now let's say you go back in time to kill yourself, how would you even go back in time in the first place to kill yourself if you never existed? Well here's the easy answer:

As noted in the beginning, time is like a river, it can flow in one direction, or in hundreds of other directions. And when you alter a river, by all means you have created another channel, another river with flowing water. Assume our universe is the river, and you killed yourself, you have created another river, which we would call a parallel universe. You have changed the future, but for another universe, not ours. That's another rule of logic that applies to time travel -- you can't change the future. So again, sadly, you can't save Abraham Lincoln from being assassinated.

Returning to time travel into the future, this has actually been proven, leaving many physicists stunned. A couple of years back the U.S. Military tested it by having two clocks -- identical, and ticking at the same time. They kept one on Earth and they put the other one on one of their super fast jets. The jet circled the Earth for hours with the clock, it came back to Earth, and when the two clocks were placed side to side the clock that was in the Military jet was ticking slower than the one that stayed on Earth. This has proven that time ticks slower as you get farther away from Earth's gravity, and it also proved that time is not the same as in Earth to in Mars or Pluto or Venus.

Time travel is possible, nobody will know when we will achieve the milestone of going back or forward in time, but one thing is certain, one day we will have the ability to do it. Before, time travel was science fiction, in modern times, it is only an engineering problem.

Heartland Institute Crosses The Line

The Heartland Institute has crossed the line. Their misinformation campaign to discredit science has crossed the line. Their attempts to degrade scientists has crossed the line. Their attempts to misinform students and young kids has crossed the line. Look at what they did now:

This is by far the most despicable, ruthless, and unbelievable thing Heartland has ever done. In fact, almost anyone. I still cannot believe it, but it is indeed real. This is a real billboard that was placed in Chicago, with a criminal most famously known as "The Unabomber" who is the one being mentioned there. Basically, Heartland has compared Global Warming believers into mass-murderers, like him. This is just indisputably ridiculous.

The Heartland Institute has been known for their notorious acts, but this, no words can explain it. They even stated publicly that those who believe in Global Warming are tyrants, madmen, and of course, murderers. Their misinformation campaign has gotten to the point where they assert the most indisputable and ridiculous attacks that are so off basis to reality, any person with common sense can take it as a joke. But what's depressing is that this is no joke, this is all real.

The Heartland Institute didn't hesitate to even call Global Warming believers the radical fringe. Of course, aside from their indisputable lies, they are accusing innocent people who understand science into what the Global Warming deniers are guilty of. 

What I personally find funny is how The Heartland Institute doesn't even avert to science to back their own claims. They just throw out insults and Ad Hominem thinking that is going to prove their point. No, insulting and attacking your opponent proves nothing, other than the fact that you have nothing, and your point is meaningless. Since both apply to Heartland's claims, they avert to Ad Hominem attacks. 

What's worse beyond all of this, they have made it perfectly clear that they are not going to apologize for what they did. In fact, according to sources they plan on putting up more billboards that contain other criminals, like Osama Bin Laden, Charles Mansen, and even Fidel Castro. 

Just ask yourself, my rational friend, what does putting up billboards of this have anything to do with proving a point? And most importantly, how they contain insults? This only proves one thing, the Heartland Institute is desperate. They know that they can't provide scientific evidence to back up their claim, because for 1) they reject science in whole, and 2) they don't have any scientists to do research. So just to be clear, with that their claims are invalid because they have no scientists to do research to prove their claims, whereas we do, and we have plenty of them and plenty of evidence to support our claims. And our evidence for Global Warming is not billboards in Chicago that have a picture of Rick Santorum and insults. It is actual science. Hmm, insults or scientific evidence. Yeah, I'm sticking with the scientific evidence. Just an FYI Heartland, insults are not scientific evidence. You don't believe in science to begin with, so shut up.

I hope the Heartland Institute apologizes to us Global Warming believers for what they said, though I doubt it, but I still expect them to do so because what they did is despicable. If they think we're going to apologize for scientific research that is conducted on cause and effect, and is based on the laws of physics, then they are wrong. 

Hey, Heartland Institute, I believe the Earth is round, do you?

Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks Sunday, Tips For Great Viewing

The Lyrids are back, tonight, April 21. Of course, this is not a well known meteor shower display, or a good giver of meteors, but even then it does give a handful of meteors. The meteor shower display will take place the night of Saturday into Sunday, with its peak occurring Sunday morning before sunrise.

The Lyrid meteors are caused by Comet Thatcher, which at this time of the year the Earth passes by its orbit and thus the Earth passes by its dust, which gives us the meteors. It will not be a good producer of meteors, according to estimates it will range to about 15-20 meteors per hour, but even then that is something.

On an average night, you can probably see about 10 meteors per hour, so 15-20 is not so bad. That basically gives you a meteor every 3 and a half minutes. Even then this is a night where you want to be out, because regardless of the numbers, it is still a lot. So you definitely want to be outside tonight, and hopefully Sunday morning before sunrise.

In fact, you don't even need to wait for Lyra to rise, because if we relied on the parent constellation to rise to see its meteor displays, then to see this meteor shower we would need to wait past midnight! So thankfully, as soon as it is nighttime all you have to do is look up, not directly at the constellation, and just wait until meteors begin to appear.

This leads to questions and misconceptions, though, because most people believe that you need to look directly at the parent constellation to view its meteor displays. This is not so. The parent constellation is where its meteors radiate from, that is, where the meteors appear to come from when it comes to our perspective. So necessarily, you can look to the north, and if you see a meteor move towards the west, the opposite of Lyra (Which will rise in the east), then that's a Lyrid. So in other words, you don't need to be looking at the constellation directly for meteors, all you need to do is go outside once it hits dark and look up, and enjoy the show!

Tips for viewing the shower: Go outside, to your backyard, most preferably. Get a comfy chair to sit down, or anything that will make you comfortable because you don't want to stand in your backyard with your head staring up for hours. Your neck will get sore, and you will get really tired and frustrated. So once you get a comfortable place to sit at, look up. Don't stop looking up, because meteors move faster than no one's business. They'll be gone by the time you say "Wow!" So you have to have your head up at all times. Lastly, be patient. Don't expect to see meteors right away, but they will come. The more you're outside with your head staring at the night sky, the more likely you are to catch a shooting star. Patience will always pay off, especially when it's something so amazing like this!

So there you go, hopefully tonight you can take your family outside and watch the magnificent meteor display that is expected to come upon, with the the meteor display at its best Sunday morning before sunrise. Enjoy the meteors and be safe!

If you have an image of a Lyrid meteor that you took, contact Carlos at astrophysics03@yahoo.com for a potential article on your image.


You can follow Carlos on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest on what's visible in your night skies and the latest news in the Science world.

The Importance of Science Literacy

Science literacy is important if anyone wants to survive this world. But what exactly is science literacy? It's a question that some people ask a lot, and there is a huge misconception going on about this issue.

Many people assert that science literacy is about knowing Einstein's General Theory, or knowing how long it takes Mars to go around the Sun, or knowing the laws of physics. Not quite. Science literacy can be interpreted like this, but it is not what it exactly means. Science literacy is about recognizing that science is not a body of knowledge but rather a way of thinking and querying the world around you.

If someone goes up to you and tells you that diamonds cure cancer, a scientifically illiterate person would ask how much the diamonds cost, while a scientifically literate person will ask for proof on how the discovery was made, and or evidence for the claim. Science literacy allows you to start asking questions when claims come upon, and the claimer ends up running away because he/she cannot prove his/her assertions. You thus have proven the charlatan that he or she is.

We see this all the time, and a perfect example is the 2012 doomsday claims. Most people would interpret the film '2012' and say, "is the world really going to end?" Or, as the trailor says, "what is the government hiding from us?" While they ask those questions, scientifically literate people would ask, where is the scientific proof that the San Andreas fault can split in two? Where is the proof that Yellowstone will erupt this December? Where is the proof that the Sun will eject high Coronal Mass Ejections and thus flip earth's poles? As you see again, a scientifically literate person would ask these questions, it's not about knowing how science works, but understanding how to interpret such claims.

If you're scientifically literate, you will not fall for anything because every single assertion/claim that comes into your backyard will receive skepticism and questioning. What does it take to become scientifically literate? All it takes is for you to open yourself into the real world and change your way of interpreting claims. If you can change yourself into asking these questions I explained above when claims are being made, then you are on the right track to querying the world around you and making yourself unique to the real world, because when you're scientifically literate, the world looks different to you.

You can follow Carlos on Twitter and on Facebook  for the latest news going on in Astronomy and Sciences in general.

Image Credit: Imgur

Saturn Reaches Opposition Sunday, Sky-Watchers Ready To Observe It

Saturn will reach opposition tomorrow, Sunday April 15, 2012. This means that Saturn will be visible from sunset Sunday to sunrise Monday. All night, and the best time to observe the giant planet in this fantastic window is at midnight, when Saturn and the Earth are in opposite directions from the Sun.

This is the best time to observe Saturn because of its brightness, as you see in the image above. Currently, Saturn lies at magnitude 0.77, which is extremely bright. The lower the magnitude of a celestial object, the brighter it is. Magnitude 6 is the naked eye limit, and in this case a magnitude 0.77 Saturn will be exceptionally bright.

Not only that, but Spica will light up the night sky as well. The blue star has been next to Saturn for nearly a year, and will be extremely close to Saturn (Within Earth's perspective). Spica will be right next to Saturn, shining at magnitude 0.95.

You don't need a telescope to observe Saturn at opposition, unless of course you want to grab some stunning images of the giant planet, or if you want to spot its rings. All you need is your eyes, and you will see it. It's also worth noting its Moons. Titan is the largest of the Moons, and with a relatively big telescope you might be able to spot it. Mimas is quite tough, but with a powerful telescope you might be able to spot it. Other Moons of Saturn are challenging to spot.

Its rings are angled 13 degrees, so that is particularly good if you want to capture some images of the planet. In this particular case, even small telescopes can spot the rings. When a planet is in opposition, small telescopes can capture the unthinkable.

So go outside tomorrow, heck, even tonight. Saturn will still do its normal thing, it will shine brightly and put on a fantastic show for stargazers.

If you have an amazing sky-watching image you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact Carlos Aguirre at carlosaguirre205@gmail.com


Image Credit: Stellarium

Viking Robots Found Life on Mars in 1976, Scientists Say

New analysis of 36-year-old data, resuscitated from printouts, shows that NASA found life on Mars, an international team of mathematicians and scientists conclude in a paper published this week.


"NASA doesn't need a human expedition to Mars to nail down the claim," neuropharmacologist and biologist Joseph Miller, of the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, said.


Miller's confidence stems in part from a new study that reanalyzed results from a life-detection experiment conducted by NASA's Viking Mars robots in 1976.


The Viking rovers were a series of exploration missions sent by NASA in the late 70's, and they have never stopped sending robotic missions to Mars. In 1997, Pathfinder landed on Mars' surface, with the tiny Sojourner rover roving Mars to understand more about the red world. In 2004, NASA did it again, by landing Spirit and Opportunity on Mars, both which were a major success, with Spirit being active nearly 6 years, while Opportunity continues to ride through Mars in its 9th year. 


Despite these missions, the only ones intended to search for life on Mars were the Viking rovers themselves. They carried life-detection tools with them to search for microbial life on the red planet, but they couldn't. Now, after reviewing the 36 year old data, scientists at the University of Southern California have concluded that there is enough supporting evidence to prove that there is life on Mars now, at least microbial.


They found close correlations between the Viking experiment results' complexity and those of terrestrial biological data sets. They say the high degree of order is more characteristic of biological, rather than purely physical, processes.


However, critics have stated that it is too early to confirm such findings because scientists are still unsure how to differentiate biological and non-biological processes on Earth, so it is premature to draw any conclusions.


NASA has been all on for finding life on Mars, but has not taken specifically sent their latest rovers in search for convincing evidence for life there. However, in November of 2011, NASA launched Curiosity on board an Atlas V rocket, en route to Mars. The car-sized rover's mission is to study whether conditions on Mars was suitable for life in the past. However, it does not carry any life-detection tools with it. So its goal is not to directly look for life on Mars, but to find evidence that life on Mars was once feasible. Curiosity is expected to land on Mars in August of this year.


The research is published online in the International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences

Source: NASA; MSNBC

North Korea Launches Rocket, Fails To Reach Orbit

North Korea has failed to launch a rocket into orbit, according to the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.


The launch took place at 7:39am local time, according to South Korean officials, and 90 seconds after the launch, the rocket broke apart, and fell into the ocean.


This of course is not a surprise, since North Korea is known to have a very poor space program, and a very poor record when it comes to launching rockets into space. Me personally, I expected this failure, because I know North Korea's space program very well, and I know that their aerodynamics is horrific. Nonetheless, if North Korea knows that they can't launch rockets to space, then why do it? Apparently, Kim Jong Un was not even aware at how horrible the North is at rocket technology, but in essence, it's perfectly clear that this was a disguised test for potential nuclear ballistic missiles. Yes, the rocket (As though it appears) can at most contain no more than 100kg of payload, so by definition it cannot be a missile or a bomb. So the fact that it had a satellite is not particularly questionable, but as previously stated, it's all a disguise.


North Korea asserts that this launch was aimed to celebrate Kim Il Sung's, the founder of North Korea, 100th birthday. A launch which would place an Earth-observing satellite into polar orbit, according to North Korean officials.


The United States and South Korea warned North Korea that going on with such a launch would defy treaties the North signed with the United Nations - which banned North Korea from launching any type of rocket. They defied the treaty, and now North Korea is gonna have to explain why in the world they went on with this launch. South Korean officials immediately told the U.N. that they wanted penalties for what occurred.


Aside from a disguise, and aside from everything else, the reason why this launch raised even more international concern was because of where an uncontrolled rocket could head in to. Since North Korea has a poor space program, the odds that any launched rocket can go uncontrolled by mission control are pretty darn high. Neighboring countries would be under threat of a crash from an uncontrolled rocket.


In fact, Japan had its missile defense system turned on, with missiles ready to blow up the rocket in case the North Korean rocket entered its vicinity. South Korea also warned that if it entered South Korean territory its military would shoot it down. Even at one point South Korea stated that they would shoot down the rocket at the launch pad, though that was a specified rumor but not confirmed.


In the end, North Korea failed to launch the rocket, it broke apart 90 seconds after liftoff, and later fell into the ocean. The United States, India, South Korea, Japan, and other countries have confirmed as well that the rocket failed to reach orbit. Despite all of this, don't be surprised if North Korea claims success, as though that's what they did in 2009, when they attempted to launch yet another satellite into orbit, which, the same thing happened -  it broke apart, and fell into the ocean. History does repeat itself.