New study says time travel is impossible

July 26, 2011 By Rick Marshall

Hong Kong scientists say they've ended the time-travel debate. Doc Brown declines to comment.

Even if you get your hands on a suped-up DeLorean and a Flux capacitor, you can’t travel back in time.

That’s what Hong Kong physicists say they’ve determined, thanks to a study of the speed limits of photons.

According to researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Albert Einstein’s theory that nothing can move faster than the speed of light holds up for even a single photon — the most basic unit of light. The study was led scientist Du Shengwang, who sought to measure the ultimate speed limit of a photon, which some believed could travel at faster-than-light speeds.

“Einstein claimed that the speed of light was the traffic law of the universe or in simple language, nothing can travel faster than light,” stated the university on its website. “Professor Du’s study demonstrates that a single photon, the fundamental quanta of light, also obeys the traffic law of the universe just like classical EM (electromagnetic) waves.”

“The study, which showed that single photons also obey the speed limit c, confirms Einstein’s causality; that is, an effect cannot occur before its cause,” reported the university.

Published in American scientific journal Physical Review Letters, the study was intended to end debate on the possibility of time travel, but let’s face it: we’re going to need to time travel if we’re ever going to defeat Skynet. Don’t stop believing, scientists!

Showing 10 comments

mazinG at 11:24pm 28th July 2011 Well the idea of traveling in time, is one of the most storied plot devices in fiction eversice, and it is an amazing one. However, some killjoy researchers have just found that time travel is basically extremely hard, so individuals had better just get accustomed to the present.If you wanna know more I found this here: Possibility of time travel quashed by scientists
Paul Adams at 8:05pm 26th July 2011 awesome. I write a wonderful comment about multiverses, the higgs boson, dark matter, and then I click submit. I am taken to the "register page" where I go through the process of giving this website access to all of my facebook information any time they like, and then when I get redirected back to the comments page my beautifully crafted comment is gone. Figure out what you are doing people. Unlike, delete, remove, forget. Enjoy your fade from my reality.
1. Ian Bell at 5:34am 27th July 2011 Hmm I see your comment here. Not sure what the problem is. That would suck to write something, try to register and then have it deleted.
Ken at 8:04pm 26th July 2011 I can time travel. Forward at regular speed.
tom at 6:56pm 26th July 2011 I believe that the speedlimit may be different in other quantum branes. Travel sideways take a step back and boom. Langoleers
pjsauter at 7:24am 26th July 2011 Of course, it wasn't all that long ago that the idea of traveling to the moon or creating a permanent, orbiting space station was considered "science fiction" too. Seems that everything is impossible - until it happens.
Lennon Emmanuel at 7:06am 26th July 2011 Was there anyone who seriously believed that you could time travel?? My God, you people are so stupid. Results of truning mass media as an aggregate of science!! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ITS CALLED SCIENCE FICTION for a reason.
1. Ian Bell at 7:00pm 26th July 2011 The problem is that every other month there is some crazy scientist saying time travel is theoretically possible. I'm with you, but just saying...
  1. tangocharlie at 12:06am 27th July 2011 In normal logic, it seems obvious. Time travel FORWARD we all know is possible, it's all standard relativity, but it's a one-way trip. If one is trying to go BACK, logic dictates that either there is ONE timeline wherein a traveler going back could kill their own grandfather, and thereby create a paradox, or there exists EVERY timeline, wherein a traveler going back is essentially skipping to a different timeline - where he could potentially meet his younger self. Neither really seems possible.However with all the Quantum Weirdness, there have been some legitimate questions. Quantum mechanics shows ways that we can apparently violate causality. You could possibly do it in a high school physics lab...
    Lennon Emmanuel at 6:44am 27th January 2012 Science Fact 101: You can't time travel