What is time travel? It is the ability for one to go through some sort of portal that may lead them to a time before or after the present. We are obsessed with the idea that travel through time is possible. It’s a hot topic in fiction, and movies and shows based on this topic usually trend well. Who wouldn’t want to go back in time and fix the things they need to fix or travel to the future out of curiosity about how things work out? Scientists are trying to find ways to create such portals to make this feat possible. Needless to say, the work has been underway.
Scientists talk about black holes that are present through the space and time fabric. What are black holes, you ask? They are formed when a supernova or star explodes, leaving behind a dense material with an intense gravitational pull. When such a star implodes, it collapses into itself, and the outer layers of the star are blown away, forming a black hole. The matter falling in from all sides compresses the dying star to a point zero. This point zero is called the singularity. This black hole can attract any object towards it and engulfs it. The gravitational pull is so intense that not even light can escape it. Hence the name black hole came into being. Its gravitational pull is also thought to have interrupted the time-space continuum.
Some scientists believe that if we travel through a black hole, it can warp us through the fabric of time, making time travel possible. However, it is almost impossible to accomplish because of the uncertainty that it might even work. It is a dangerous and risky mission. We may not have the kind of technology that is required for us to even begin to attempt traveling through one.
Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity states that time is an illusion that is relative to the person observing it. Someone traveling at the speed of light will experience time differently as compared to someone at rest. Time moves slower for someone moving at such speeds. This is why people who spend years in space will age slower than someone on earth.
Wormholes are also thought to be portals through the space-time continuum, and traveling through them may help propel us through time. However, this theory remains hypothetical. In 1935, Einstein and a physicist called Nathan Rosen used the Theory of Relativity to explain that wormholes are bridges through space-time. This is thought to be a shortcut that can reduce time and distance so that we may be able to travel through time.
Not even our advancements in technology and research today can attempt to make use of these portals. Human beings just aren’t going to be able to do it any time soon. Whether time travel may not be possible, it might still be a reality for us to ponder over and create great fictional works with the idea of time travel.