What Simon has referred to is mentioned in Doctor Who: A Celebration...
no, come back, this isn't an E-mail about Dr.Who! It's an article
summarising the then (1983) theory about time travel, and it mentions
the 45-degree cone which Simon refers to. Sorry, to which Simon refers
(I wish I spoke Japanese or some other language...).
What it also mentions, however, is that you can travel to Simon's
Twilight Zone by tipping the cone over! This occurs when orbiting very
large masses (eg. dark stars - sorry, Black Holes), as the light is bent
by them. I can't remember all the theory, but basically you're onto a
winner when the axis of the 45-degree cone is parallel to your orbit -
you are thus motionless in time (more or less - of course, there'll be
fluctuations, 'cos nothing in the Universe is perfect!). If you now
travel at an angle to the axis (which, of course, must be less than 45
degrees), you will spiral up or down along the time dimension (it's
confusing to call it the 4th dimension - I prefer "zeroth"), and can
thus travel in time, though only throughout the history of the gigantic
mass (or at least while it's gigantic enough). This is not quite the
same as the Time Lords getting the power for their planet, TARDISes etc.
from a black hole (the Eye of Harmony), but it's probably related, as
they needed a supernova for their time travel experiments. However, it
does explain Star Trek's time travel theory involving a "slingshot
around the Sun" - if you're only going back to 1986 from 2286 or
whenever, and the Sun is big enough, it's possible. In fact, since the
Sun has existed throughout the Earth's history, you could go back and
see dinosaurs, or witness the building of the Pyramids... I'm not sure
the Sun would be massive enough for you to go back and see the Moon
being formed when a Mars-sized body hit the Earth, though (it probably
hadn't condensed enough by then). Of course, you'd have to watch out
for changing history, but that's another discussion.
Incidentally, I reckon that the paradox of Scottie giving the fat bloke
the formula for transparent "aluminum" (sic.) in STIV is easily solved:
the guy either accidentally erased it, or someone else came up with the
formula legitimately (ie. the guy who really invented it - a scientist
in Scotland, perchance...?) and beat him to the patent. Of course,
since he didn't invent it, the fat guy couldn't do anything but simper
over it. Or, if he did market it first, the real inventor would sue him
for copyright... wouldn't it be nice if someone would write for Star
Trek who actually knows a few basic things about time travel?
And finally, what is the link between the films 12:01, Groundhog Day,
the ST:TNG episode "Deja Vu", and an epiosde of Xena: Warrior Princess I
saw on Sky on Saturday? They all do the "same day repeating over and
over again" idea! In 12:01 it was a particle accelerator firing and
causing a "time bounce", in ST:TNG it was the Enterprise exploding after
hitting another ship which was also trapped in time, and in Xena it was
some guy's wish that tomorrow would never come because his girlfriend
had poisoned herself and his family was at war with her family - sort of
Romeo and Juliet on a broken record. What's Groundhog Day's
explanation? (And how many more films, TV series etc. are planning to
do a take on this idea? Oh yeah, Dr.Who's "Meglos" with its temporal
hysteresis (sp.?) loop...)
I'll give it a rest for now - I haven't had lunch yet! And all these
selfish people keep coming into the library wanting to check their
E-mail! (Ahem...)
D.Chilard
no, come back, this isn't an E-mail about Dr.Who! It's an article
summarising the then (1983) theory about time travel, and it mentions
the 45-degree cone which Simon refers to. Sorry, to which Simon refers
(I wish I spoke Japanese or some other language...).
What it also mentions, however, is that you can travel to Simon's
Twilight Zone by tipping the cone over! This occurs when orbiting very
large masses (eg. dark stars - sorry, Black Holes), as the light is bent
by them. I can't remember all the theory, but basically you're onto a
winner when the axis of the 45-degree cone is parallel to your orbit -
you are thus motionless in time (more or less - of course, there'll be
fluctuations, 'cos nothing in the Universe is perfect!). If you now
travel at an angle to the axis (which, of course, must be less than 45
degrees), you will spiral up or down along the time dimension (it's
confusing to call it the 4th dimension - I prefer "zeroth"), and can
thus travel in time, though only throughout the history of the gigantic
mass (or at least while it's gigantic enough). This is not quite the
same as the Time Lords getting the power for their planet, TARDISes etc.
from a black hole (the Eye of Harmony), but it's probably related, as
they needed a supernova for their time travel experiments. However, it
does explain Star Trek's time travel theory involving a "slingshot
around the Sun" - if you're only going back to 1986 from 2286 or
whenever, and the Sun is big enough, it's possible. In fact, since the
Sun has existed throughout the Earth's history, you could go back and
see dinosaurs, or witness the building of the Pyramids... I'm not sure
the Sun would be massive enough for you to go back and see the Moon
being formed when a Mars-sized body hit the Earth, though (it probably
hadn't condensed enough by then). Of course, you'd have to watch out
for changing history, but that's another discussion.
Incidentally, I reckon that the paradox of Scottie giving the fat bloke
the formula for transparent "aluminum" (sic.) in STIV is easily solved:
the guy either accidentally erased it, or someone else came up with the
formula legitimately (ie. the guy who really invented it - a scientist
in Scotland, perchance...?) and beat him to the patent. Of course,
since he didn't invent it, the fat guy couldn't do anything but simper
over it. Or, if he did market it first, the real inventor would sue him
for copyright... wouldn't it be nice if someone would write for Star
Trek who actually knows a few basic things about time travel?
And finally, what is the link between the films 12:01, Groundhog Day,
the ST:TNG episode "Deja Vu", and an epiosde of Xena: Warrior Princess I
saw on Sky on Saturday? They all do the "same day repeating over and
over again" idea! In 12:01 it was a particle accelerator firing and
causing a "time bounce", in ST:TNG it was the Enterprise exploding after
hitting another ship which was also trapped in time, and in Xena it was
some guy's wish that tomorrow would never come because his girlfriend
had poisoned herself and his family was at war with her family - sort of
Romeo and Juliet on a broken record. What's Groundhog Day's
explanation? (And how many more films, TV series etc. are planning to
do a take on this idea? Oh yeah, Dr.Who's "Meglos" with its temporal
hysteresis (sp.?) loop...)
I'll give it a rest for now - I haven't had lunch yet! And all these
selfish people keep coming into the library wanting to check their
E-mail! (Ahem...)
D.Chilard