Time travel might be possible using spinning lasers, according to a physicist
When NBC news released an article on March 1st, 2021, with the click-bait title “Time travel might be possible using spinning lasers, according to a physicist”, the internet nearly broke. The fact that a credible source had finally given some legitimacy to the idea of time travel sent shockwaves throughout the scientific community, and sparked a wave of new research into the topic.
Interestingly enough, the article cites a paper written by a physicist at the University of British Columbia, which was published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity. In it, the author argues that time travel is indeed possible, using a thought experiment involving a ring laser.
While the idea of time travel has been around for centuries, it has always been relegated to the realm of science fiction. With the recent advances in physics, however, some scientists have begun to take the idea seriously. And while there is still much skepticism, the fact that time travel is now being discussed in scientific circles is a major breakthrough.
The ring laser experiment is based on the theory of special relativity, which states that time is relative, and can be affected by changes in velocity. In the experiment, a laser is sent around a ring, and the photons in the laser experience a change in velocity as they travel. This, in turn, causes the photons to age at a different rate than the surrounding particles.
By careful control of the laser’s intensity and wavelength, the physicist was able to show that it is possible to reverse the direction of time for the photons. This, in turn, could potentially be used to send information back in time.
While the experiment is still in its early stages, and has yet to be proven conclusively, it is a major step forward in our understanding of time travel. And who knows? Maybe one day we’ll be able to use ring lasers to send messages to our past selves.
