• Question: It is said that we could, theoretically speaking, travel into the future. However, if in say, 50 years time someone was to build a time machine, why would they not be able to travel back to the present time (their past) and teach us how to build one?

    Asked by Matthew S to Helen on 19 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 19 Nov 2014:


      We think that time can only ever run forwards 🙁 Your time can slow down compared to other people’s if you are moving really close to the speed of light, or if you’re really close to a black hole/in some very strong gravitational field, but don’t think it can ever go backwards. In theory, if you were on Earth and someone was up in Space near a black hole with a huge, huge clock that you could see with a telescope – their clock would appear to be ticking slowly. I love the idea of time travel though.. it’s definitely great for movies!

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