We all remember Hermione’s beautiful, golden time turner in the Prisoner of Azkaban. She used it to catch up with all her lessons – and not only that. We also remember the huge, impressive time machine in the 2002 film of the same name, as well as the numerous time travels in the Star Trek universe. Every time, in a corner of the mind, the same questions arises. “If we could travel in time, how would it be?”
The very term “time travel” is an idea derives from science fiction, which refers to the management of the flow of time through a technological invention (the time machine). The first to introduce the idea was H.G. Wells in 1895 in his work “The Time Machine” and since then, many have exploited by putting their heroes wandering the cobbled streets of time. But what happens when the realm of the imaginary and that of reality find an intersection and that can only be verified through scientifically based theories?
Albert Einstein was the first to demonstrate this intersection and the possibility of a journey through time, in 1905, with his theory of relativity, introducing the concept of the relative time, thus dethroning the obsolete and absolute image of time according to Newton. Einstein’s theory of relativity promises that time travel in a limited form can be possible. Based on this, many modern theoretical physicists support the possibility. Like the English physicist Paul Davies who, jokingly, pointed out “…to visit the future all we need is a little help from gravity and a spaceship that can travel at a speed a little slower than light. As for the past, the best way is through a neighbouring black hole equipped with a notorious wormhole”.
However, as it turns out, a trip in the past is more difficult than that in the future. Most of them, of course, are at the level of theoretical physics, with many questions about the possibility of time travel.
We still have a way to travel in time. Of course, in the future we may find a way. What is certain is that such discoveries, apart from innovation and evolution, bring many moral dilemmas and confusions. That is why, in our time, only with the curiosity of the unknown, with the possibility of “time travel” thanks to our favourite heroes, the best we can do is to learn and seize as much time given to us. One thing is for certain… Time flies by. Tic tac, tic tac…..
Of Coffee Thoughts 