WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES... WHAT "TIME" IS IT REALLY?
By The Night Watchman

Time, the most intriguing concept to capture the imagination since the invention of the sundial. How do we define time? Carl Sagan said time is "resistant to simple definition". We think we know what time is, but still, we can't see it. We see the effects of time. Our bodies age and begin to sag; houses and buildings start to crumble; and the contents of our refrigerators need to be thrown out. We also feel the pressure of time. Work and school deadlines, bills need to be paid on time, and the two minute warning can put more pressure on a sports fan than a hydraulic press if your team is down by seven.

Scientists have defined time as the fourth dimension of the universe. The other three, up and down, right and left, backwards and forwards make up the other three. The three space dimensions have a relationship with time. Time cannot exist without space and vice versa. It's this relationship scientists call the "space-time continuum". In short, any event that occurs must involve both space and time.

All of us at one time have thought about going back in time or wishing to see the future. Over the years, there have been countless stories and movies about time travel with H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" being the most popular. The central theme around most of the stories seems to hover around the question "What effect does a person who travels through time have on the time period he now occupies?" Can just being in a different time period change the course of history, the future, or the present? Is there just one time continuum, or are there several or an infinite number? Or, is it even possible to exist in a different time period? There are so many questions regarding time travel that it almost seems impossible to believe we'll find any answers in the near future. But, maybe we need to look beyond science to find out the answers.

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Science, for the most part, has confirmed that time travel to the future is possible. Einstein's theory of special relativity has demonstrated this. It states that time slows as an object approaches the speed of light. In short, if one were to travel in space at the speed of light for thirty years and then come back to earth, that person would hardly have aged compared to those who stayed on earth. NASA scientists have even documented evidence to substantiate Einstein's theory showing that space shuttle astronauts have traveled a few nanoseconds into the future because of the speed of the craft.

So the big question now is: Can we go back into the past?

At least in my research on the subject, scientists seem very skeptical at this point about the possibility of time travel into the past. There are also many problems associated with time travel which they call paradoxes. One of them, as discussed above, is, could you even exist in a time where you weren't even born? Another, and probably the most famous one is called the grandfather paradox. What would happen if a time traveler went back in time and killed his or her grandfather before the traveler was born? If the grandfather was killed, how then could the traveler be alive to go back into the past?

Would these paradoxes make it even possible for a time machine to even be built to go into the past? The possibilities are endless.

One theory to overcome some of these questions is the idea of parallel universes. Maybe some of you Star Trek enthusiasts remember when the transporter crew of Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy and Uhura got tangled up during some sort of electromagnetic storm and were transported into an evil parallel universe. (I thought Spock looked pretty cool in a goatee.) It's the same kind of scenario. The universe is similar to our present one, but has a different succession of events. If you were to travel back into time and kill one of your ancestors, you've killed only that person in that particular universe... a universe of which you never existed in the first place. Another problem may arise where you may never be able to return to the universe from which you came.

Clear as mud. Welcome to the concept of time travel.

There are many sites on the internet to help explain the science of time travel. Just type in "time travel" on a search engine and you're on your way.

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We are only scratching the surface scientifically about the possibilities of time travel. I'm pleased that there are scientists studying the subject, but I believe much can be learned from other areas of study which I hope science will eventually infuse into their theories.

Author John Gribbin believes real time travel is possible and that real time warps exist. He's done extensive research on the subject of traveling "with or within" the mind. (For more information on his studies, log onto http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/John_Gribbin/). Many of the stories you'll encounter in this issue of the magazine will offer examples of this type of time travel. And here we will look at some possible alternative definitions, explanations, and consequences of time travel within the conscious and subconscious mind.

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Most of us have, at one time, dreamt about a past time. I recall dreams about being in ancient Rome, the Old West, past wars and on sailing ships, to name just a few. I can't say whether they were actual travels into those times, but the idea is intriguing. It would be, pardon the pun, a dream come true to a history buff like myself.

Some researchers have delved into the study of backward travel. Psychologists and parapsychologists have defined it as retrocognition. Retrocognition occurs when somehow a person travels into the past. (This is not to be confused with past life regression. Past life regression is a form of retrocognition. (This is the theme of the next issue of The Night Watchman Chronicles magazine.) According to James Deem, a retrocognitive traveler does not roam throughout history, rather, the traveler peeks into a past time as an observer.