Strange experiments on time travel - Breaking the time barrier
The recent report ( here :- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14289114 ) on the very important scientific experiment performed by the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology which proves that a single photon is also limited to the speed of light ( i.e 300,000 km per second in a vacuum ) is definitive proof that time travel by going faster than light is impossible. However, it does not rule out other means of time travel such as through a wormhole.
In my book - " The Universe - A Personal View " which was listed by the US PDF online books website GENI.COM as one of the top 100 e-books in 2008, I have come cross reports in my research I conducted for writing my book that there are other ways of achieving time travel theoretically by slowing down the speed of light when it is passed through a near absolute zero ( -273 degrees Celsius ) gas known as the Bose-Einstein condensate. The following is an extract from my book which can be accessed in my notes here on FACEBOOK - " My Notes " to the left on this page ( http://sites.google.com/site/jkhclifestyle/Home/the-universe---a-personal-view ) about this experiment done in the late 1990s.
Page 279 to 281
QUOTE :-
Before I leave the possible future of science, I would like to introduce one last eccentric and incredible scientific idea of BREAKING the TIME BARRIER. This is not science fiction but a partial scientific reality. It will be recalled ( from chapter (iv) – Special and General Relativity ) that nothing can travel faster than light and to do so would tantamount to going backwards in time. As recently as in February 1999 , scientists had been able to cool down atoms to near absolute zero temperature under laboratory and experimental conditions. At such lowest of possible temperature all movements of atoms and elementary particles stop. Light is also one type of elementary particles called photons which are massless and are the most numerous type in our universe. While the speed of light through a vacuum is 186,000 mph, its speed had been successfully reduced to a mere 38mph in a cloud of atoms ( technically known as a Bose-Einstein condensate ) cooled to near absolute zero at the Rowland Institute at Harvard by a Danish scientist called Lene Vestergaad in February, 1999. The significance of reducing the speed of light to an attainable pace also implies the slowing down of time. This is because all information must be transmitted by light. Nothing can happen until signals have been exchanged between two conscious parties. If the propagation of signals is slowed down all events due to take place according to the signals or instructions would also slow down correspondingly. As time is measured by the occurrence of events, time would also slow down to an attainable speed. We could then break the time barrier at the reduced speed if we could exist in that kind of cold temperature near absolute zero. But, alternatively, we could send robotic probes in our place to break the time barrier in the extreme cold to propagate or retrieve information for us. This would still constitute time travel through the trick of reducing the speed of light rather than catching up to the normal speed of light at 186,000 mph ( or 300,000 kmph ) which would take an infinite amount of energy to achieve. This has been predicted to be impossible by Einstein's Special Relativity ( e= mc2 ). In the near absolute zero temperature conditions in the dark and vast cosmos, there are a lot of very ancient photons produced by interactions between elementary particles arising from past events that are waiting to be captured or read. If that could be done as current research has indicated, we might just be able to do time travel backwards in time by means of robotic probes to retrieve some of these ancient signals of past events. Isn't this interesting and exciting stuff ? I will surely let the reader know if and when this manner of time travel is materialized. From this example, the reader will probably appreciate that however abstract and complicated revolutionary scientific concepts may seem to us, to ignore them completely does not prevent such advanced concepts from drastically affecting our philosophical outlooks on life and reality. When such concepts are proven and materialized into everyday technologies such as IT ( the net, etc. ) (which incidentally is based on the application of Quantum Theory ) they would be directly affecting our daily lives and well being, not just in the philosophical sense. This is the reason that has led me back into the scientific realm after all these years of my accounting and tax consultancy career. It pays to be basically ( but need not be technically ) informed for two very important reasons. Firstly, it is in accordance with my own TOEL to be knowledgeable for better capability to make decisions on human behaviour. Secondly, being well informed about the basic principles and ethical implications of such new concepts entitles you to engage in discussions over the right direction to be taken in such research. I do want a say because new scientific concepts and technologies will ultimately affect our lives ( just like human cloning ). This is my basic individual-humanistic right. Everyone should and must insist to stand up and be counted on crucial issues that will affect us and, most importantly, our future generations whom it is our sacred duty to protect ( just as in the case of environmental issues ). Secondly, for the more practical modern citizens, funding of research deemed vital for the public interest will one way or another come out of our pockets in the form of higher taxation ( my area ) and other levies. We must know what we are in for. This is also the reason why scientists nowadays place so much emphasis on informing the public about their research, sometimes, in the form of popular science books which have lured me into the present intellectual journey in the first place. So, you see. I have once again shown the readers that everything in this world is interconnected. It is just common sense. I would be most surprised if it were not the case. Therefore, the motto - ONLY CONNECT – plays an indispensable role in our lives.
The only question left for me to answer is whether I have succeeded in establishing my case for the importance of finding one's meaning in life and that all problems in this world can be solved if we act in accordance with the laws of nature. I said in the prologue that it is for the reader to pass judgment. Here, I would just like to comment on the criteria for judging my case. I truly feel that I could rejoice even if my book is just able to motivate the reader to think about these issues stop short of finding a solution to them. My mentality has reached a point where I could be very happy if my life comes with all the beautiful trimmings, some of which I have already possessed, but I would not be too disappointed if the outstanding ones are not forthcoming. If my book has the desired effects I would be elated but if it doesn't I would not be devastated. This is the privilege of being a connected human being.
Before I sign off, I would like to repeat my call to refrain from comparing one's values and achievements with another. So long as we have set out and fulfilled our own goals and responsibilities during our lives, there should be no regrets. You just have to measure your own success in life by your own yardsticks. This is the only valid way to assess your own achievements in life as Einstein's profound discovery has undoubtedly proven. Do not let anyone make you feel small by quoting statistics to intimidate you because figures and even facts are subject to different interpretations from varying perspectives. Have complete confidence in yourselves and your own principles. Have the guts to say:- “ to hell with double standards “ if you are ever confronted with such evils. As the only observer in your own frame of reference and as a unique and precious human being, you are the only qualified judge of your life. Of course, you must first qualify yourself to be judged by your own standards by having a goal in life which must not conflict with the laws of nature, all just human laws and the prevailing generally accepted social and moral code. Once you have done that you will be your own hero for life. As I have previously exclaimed, we do not need great heroes in this world only numerous small little ones who are moral, conscientious and connected human beings. You are doing great ! Keep up the good work with all your heart and soul and motivate others to do the same.The best way to think positive about yourself is to remember what the former American first lady ( the wife of FDR, one of the most popular US presidents of all times who was in office during the Second World War ), Eleanor Roosevelt said :- “ No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. “
Nature is an open book. We can learn a lot from her only if we care to do so. For some people, they take things for granted and carry on with their existence by fufilling their daily duties without asking questions about things and other natural phenomena going on around them. They are happy in their own ways. May be they are too much taken up with their daily toils to notice anything in particular about nature. But for those who wish to connect various aspects of nature to their own lives, it is a completely different picture. They will see life from a higher and wider perspective and as the saying goes, they will see the light – the light of endless beauty, profound truths and eternal harmony with nature, their fellow global citizens, and most of all, with themselves. Tranquility and peace of mind will be their ultimate reward. They will have built that illusive but precious rainbow bridge that can immortalize their fleeting and chanced existence in this vast and mysterious universe where reality with a capital R only exists ( by virtue of Quantum Physics ) for the observant traveller in life. It is both my sincere and humble wish for all fellow human beings that every person could successfully construct one's own rainbow bridge and, in due course, become a prudent traveller along the river of time as well as a skilful architect in life !
As for myself, I would like to be described in the following way or, more exactly, I would like to live up to the following epithet upon my passing into the higher dimensions ( or the lower ones if I am condemned to hell ) : -
“ Here lies a stubborn but compassionate liberal humanist
who had produced some eccentric personal philosophy of his.
He professed during his life to make the world a better place.
And succeeded by connecting everything in the simple way ! "
( By a connected humanist )
JKHC
9/ 9/ 2006
UNQUOTE
