by Thor

Created on: November 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 25, 2008

Einstein's theory of relativity does not rule out the possibility of time travel, it actually allows for it. And we know he was right, the atom bomb was a result of his equations. M theory allows for a multiverse, or parallel universes, that would rectify the time travel paradox involving affecting the past and altering your present.

The ability to travel into the future is a scientific reality. Russian cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev holds the record for the most time spent in space, and he also holds the record for time travel. He has spent 749 days in space, traveling at 16,000 mph, which has sent him into the future a fraction of a second. The rate of the passage of time is affected by velocity, we know this, and we actually use this knowledge in our everyday life. A satellite in orbit moving at 20,000 mph loses 2/100ths of a second per year, and we have programmed their computers to compensate for this time differential, otherwise their clocks would continue to fall farther and farther behind compared to ours here on Earth. This method of time travel into the future involves the speed of light and its being constant for every observer no matter their velocity or location, and is based on science fact.

Another theory involving travel into the future involves the warping of the spacetime fabric of our universe by gravity wells or black holes. The warping effect of the black hole on space time alters the passage of time. Relativity predicts that at the centre of a black hole is an infinitely dense point, called a singularity, within which all the normal laws of physics no longer apply. If you were to approach the event horizon of a black hole, your perception of time would not change, but an observer outside the event horizon would observe a change in your passage of time. If you were then to leave the area of the event horizon, little time would have passed for you, but hundreds of years could have passed for the observer outside the area warped by the black hole. Also, Einstein's equations show that such a singularity doesn't just make a dip in the imaginary rubber sheet of spacetime; it makes a tunnel that goes right through and momentarily opens out on the other side. Where is the other side? No one knows, it could be anywhere, in the past, the future, even a different universe. This method of time travel involves theory and observations, but has not been tested.

Traveling into the past is more difficult, but still a scientific possibility. Here we get into the

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