Re: The Reith Lectures

Oh gawd, there is always one isn't there?

Re: The Reith Lectures

But when you consider that something cannot expand into nothing then there was a 'before' as space already existed. 'The Big Bang' was just a expansion of matter - matter that again already existed.

Re: The Reith Lectures

Hi

Well , Mark's logic is exactly that used by those who try to prove that there is a God.

You cannot prove the existence of a God, in exactly the same way that you cannot prove that God does not exist, you either believe or you don't.

The basic conundrum is well summed up by my favourite author

" In the beginning there was nothing, and it exploded"

Equally as fantastical as a belief in a God.

It is a conundrum which has baffled humans since the dawn of our existence.

We used to search for the answers in chicken entrails, now we use particle accelerators, same search, different tools.

The only thing we know is this, we don't know.

We live happily in our four dimensions, but these four dimensions cannot exist without a fifth dimension according to our current theories.

Hopefully we are going to find that fifth dimension very soon, that is what the current upgrade at CERN is all about.

Interesting times.

Re: The Reith Lectures

I am about as far away from thinking a 'God' created everything as you are likely to get.

Re: The Reith Lectures

It has been proved that time travels at different speeds, perhaps dependent on gravity, since the further from Earth you travel, the slower you age. So, since time is not a constant, it should be possible to travel through it.

I like Dawkins because he will not pay lip service or pretend to respect superstition or exploitative religion sellers. He believes the one truth they all quote: 'Truth will set you free.'

Re: The Reith Lectures

I don't think it is. To travel into the future yes but not to travel backwards. The future could be attainable owing to the aging process slowing down and people being put into an hibernate state but to go backwards is a totally different ball game.

You see a star so far away and if the light emanating from it could be seen as a picture on a TV screen then you would be seeing how the star was so many years ago but the closer you get to the star the less back in time the TV pictures would display until you get up to the present day.

If a spacecraft headed for the star at a speed much faster than light it would still get to the star at a point beyond the time of it's launch - how could it do otherwise? The TV screen would appear to show that time was indeed traveling backwards but these are simply pictures. This is how I see anything related to speed - beyond the beginning of the journey is the only one possible to attain.

As for black holes altering time well that appears to be something entirely different but I would suspect my hypothesis remains the same. Time might well warp on entry and through but come back to the present on exit.

Re: The Reith Lectures

If you get there before me save me a place.

Re: The Reith Lectures

I switched to psychology after trying to understand quantum maths-I like a good lecture though.

Re: The Reith Lectures

Hi

Time dilation, an explanation of how it works.

http://www.einstein-online.info/spotlights/Twins

The thing is, if CERN is successful this year and they do find the Graviton , it will mean that there is a Fifth Dimension.

We will then be entering a whole new branch of science

Re: The Reith Lectures

Wouldn't the spaceship speed up after its launch ?

Surely it would not take off at a speed faster than light ?


(failed maths O level)