Time Travel | National Geographic

TL;DR

Physicist Ron Mallett has spent years working on a time machine, inspired by a childhood tragedy, and believes he has found a way to control time using light and gravity.

Transcript

ever since Ron mallet was a boy he harbored a dream of building a time machine today he is professor of physics at the University of Connecticut and is ready to share his secret with the world it's really such a powerful feeling to know that we're actually being able to manipulate space and time and it's exciting because this shows that we may be a... Read More

Key Insights

• 🏛️ Ron Mallett's childhood trauma fueled his lifelong passion for building a time machine.
• 😚 His research was initially hidden in closed laboratories until he felt confident enough to share his ideas with the world.
• 🙂 Mallett's unique approach involves using light to control gravity, thus manipulating the fabric of space and time.
• 🏛️ While cosmic strings and wormholes require advanced civilizations, Mallett claims his time machine could be built today.
• 💅 The potential applications of time travel for the future's well-being, such as sending back cures for diseases, excite Mallett.
• 👨 Mallett's time machine would only enable travel to the past once it is switched on, with no possibility of retroactively saving his father.
• 😁 Mallett's miniaturized prototype uses intersecting laser beams, but a full-scale model would consist of ten thousand lasers.

Questions & Answers

Q: What motivated Ron Mallett to pursue the construction of a time machine?

The sudden death of his father when he was a child inspired Mallett to make a pledge to build a time machine and potentially save his father's life.

Q: How has Mallett's research progressed over the years?

Mallett started studying black holes and other elements related to time travel, but eventually focused on finding a mechanism that could use light to control gravity and, consequently, time.

Q: How does Mallett's time machine work?

According to his theory, a circulating beam of light creates enough gravity to replicate the frame dragging of a rotating black hole, leading to a twisting of space and time.

Q: Can Mallett's time machine have practical applications?

Mallett believes that if successful, his time machine could allow for sending information back in time, potentially providing solutions to future catastrophes or medical breakthroughs.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Ron Mallett, a physics professor, has dreamt of building a time machine since childhood, driven by the desire to save his late father's life.

• He has conducted his research in secret until he made a breakthrough at the end of the 20th century.

• Mallett believes that by using light and gravity, he can manipulate space and time to control our destiny.