Tuesday, May 2, 2017

"A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible"

Kevin Leka
Mr. Ippolito
Core Bio H
2 May 2017

Osborne, Hannah. "A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible." Newsweek. N.p., 02 May 2017. Web. 02 May 2017. <http://www.newsweek.com/time-travel-physics-einstein-spacetime-tardis-592908>.

For this weeks current event, I read,  "A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible," written by Hannah Osborne and published on Newsweek today. Osborne explains how a David Tsang, an astrophysicist from the University of Maryland, and Ben Tippett at the University of British Columbia, Canada, believe that mathematically reverse time travel is possible by creating shortcuts in a spacetime. Ultimately, these scientists believe that these bubbles in time could be visited. The idea of time traveling has always amused scientists for decades yet to accurately model it mathematically and even create some design to travel in time is remarkable. They even describe the process that would occur during time travel. If you were inside time traveling, you would watch time reverse and all events be undone. People would act sporadically and while you are traveling, you would keep accelerating in time.
The idea behind this is genius but opens up many other issues. Possibly other scientists could theoretically build a time machine and use it for good or worse, to erase history they do not agree with. Like space travel and future space ventures, this has many unknowns and leaves the reader wanting to know more. Marika Taylor, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Southampton, commented on the study with, “In summary, while their work is interesting and adds to the existing literature, it doesn't really show that time travel is possible in our Universe.” Taylor does believe it is possible but just that we are missing that one significant thing that will allow us to travel in time, both forwards and backwards.

This informative article was very well-written and scientific. The most impressive aspect of the article was the way in which Osbourne was able to explain the new research and break down complicated mathematics down into a simpler explanation. Osborne explained the research conducted very well and cited several scientists who were able to explain the work on a deeper level. For example, when the article explains time travel, “However the main problems in all these models are that quantum effects that often destroy the spacetime shortcuts and that exotic forms of matter are required to create the shortcuts,” it is a little difficult to understand, yet still amazes and wills the reader to further research. If there were simpler words used in such a complex research, specifically this quote, than it would be easier for the reader to follow along. However, since this article was very recent and had a captivating topic it was definitely worth the read. The author had great detail that drew my attention to reading through the lengthy paragraphs. The detailed interviews added a much needed depth to such a difficult concept to grasp. Fortunately, we have geniuses around the world that can actually break down and design/model something that has never happened before. This work will go on to inspire future scientists and hopefully, when there is a breakthrough, there will be a set of guidelines along time travel as to never erase moments in history that should never be forgotten.

6 comments:

  1. Alyssa Lee
    Mr. Ippolito
    Biology 10H
    6 May 2017

    Osborne, Hannah. "A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible." Newsweek. N.p., 02 May 2017. Web. 02 May 2017. .
    I decided to evaluate my classmate Kevin’s review of the article “A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible” by Hannah Osborne. The article discusses the possibility of time travel, something that has been a topic of interest for quite some time, and how this process can now be explained mathematically. Kevin’s review was very well-done; the first aspect of his review that struck me as extremely well-expressed was the impact that time travel could have on humanity. He explains consequences, both beneficial and detrimental, of this ability and how it could affect the world as we know it today. Kevin states, “Possibly other scientists could theoretically build a time machine and use it for good or worse, to erase history they do not agree with.” He articulates the possibility of the use of time travel for more nefarious means, which convinces the readers to reflect upon whether time travel would truly be a “good” thing for human society. Another aspect of Kevin’s review that was very well-done was his critique of the article itself- it expressed both the strengths and weaknesses of the article, and suggested ways in which the author could have improved these drawbacks. He comments, “The most impressive aspect of the article was the way in which Osbourne was able to explain the new research... if there were simpler words used in such a complex research… it would be easier for the reader to follow along.” By describing the strengths and weaknesses of the article clearly and concisely, the readers are able to completely understand them and analyze the pinpointed aspects for themselves. Kevin also uses a quote from the article itself to support his claim. Kevin quotes, “‘However the main problems in all these models are that quantum effects that often destroy the spacetime shortcuts and that exotic forms of matter are required to create the shortcuts.’” His use of this quote not only enhances the reading process, but it also provides structure and support to his argument.
    Although Kevin’s review was very well-written, there are some areas that could be improved. For example, I found it difficult to understand the reasoning behind how time travel could be mathematically possible. As I am sure that there is indeed an explanation for this phenomenon, an insufficient amount of information about the experimental process was given to the reader to gain an understanding of the reasoning behind this highly debatable subject. Another area in need of improvement would be the summary of the review- although it is brief and self-explanatory, there is not enough information about the article in the summary for the reader to comprehend the experimental process behind this discovery. He did not include much information about the scientific procedure at all, which caused some confusion for me in terms of understanding. This aspect is somewhat linked to the first area of improvement, as if Kevin had included more information as to said process, I would have understood the link between the research and the conclusion in more depth.
    I learned from reading Kevin’s article not only about the possibility of time travel, something that I thought to be absolutely impossible, but also the effects that its existence may have on mankind, assuming it can be carried out. I chose to read this article because I was especially interested in how something so elusive and surreal as time travel could possibly be executed by humans. This review/article has changed my perspective on life because it has raised to me the possibility of time travel- it has also occurred to me the evil that could be caused by such a revolutionary invention, as individuals would then have the power to go back in time and change the foundations of humanity as we know it.

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  2. Catherine Faville
    Mr. Ippolito
    Current event 11

    I read my fellow student, kevins analysis on the article A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible," written by Hannah Osborne. Kevin did a great job on describing as to how scientist think that it is possible that time travel is capable. He also did a good job at answering some arising questions readers might have on the pressing matter, and the problems that may come from this discovery. He went into vivid detail in explaining how the article was written up and broke down how well it was written.

    However this analysis could have been bettered if, he added more of his own opinion to it, making it more enjoyable to read. Also if he added more outside sources on what other scientist think about this and how the public feels as well, this would have made the concept more believable and convincing. In addition if he spent more time explaining the complicity of going back and time and messing something up, how would this affect our normal timeline of events. If he went into more detail with this, it would have risen cons to going back in time, while also questioning why we would want or need to go back in time.

    This article was interesting to read because i have always been fascinated with time travel, and now that it may be possible to do, it bring excitement as to what is to come in the future. It also makes me think about what other capabilities science can achieve with new advancements in technology.

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  3. Susie Goodell
    Mr. Ippolito
    Core Biology
    5/11/17
    Osborne, Hannah. "A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible." Newsweek. N.p., 02 May 2017. Web. 02 May 2017. .
    Current Event 11
    I recently read my classmate Kevin’s review of the article “A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible” by Hannah Osborne. In this article, the author discusses the recent discoveries that have been made in the field of time travel. Kevin explained that due to these recent discoveries, the notion of time travel, which has interested scientists for a long time, can be explained mathematically. Kevin did a fantastic job analyzing the article, clearly stating and describing the positive and negative aspects of the article. The readers have a really strong understanding of the article and the amount of analysis he did. He also did a great job relaying to the readers the importance of these advancements, both harmful and beneficial. He emphasizes how obvious positive impacts time travel would have on our society also come with negative impacts. He describes a possible situation in which people would use the machine to change the past for selfish reasons. Kevin also added a quote to his review, which strengthened his analysis. His quote provides us with a perspective of the scientists working on the project and their hope for the future.
    Despite all of the great parts of this review, there are some things that could be improved. Kevin could have added more details about the discoveries themselves and how the scientists formulated these mathematical equations. I was confused as to what these formulas look like and how the scientists possibly found a way to calculate something like this. More explanation was necessary on Kevin’s part for the readers to really understand the mathematical part of the discoveries. Also, Kevin should lengthen the summary portion of the review. He briefly discussed the discoveries, but mostly focused on the impacts time travel would have on our world. It is important that the readers grasp the contents of the article before they read about the impact of the discoveries. However, Kevin’s review was very well done overall.
    Before reading about this article, I thought that there was no way for time travel to be possible. I thought it was such a cool idea, but never believed there actually might be a way to make it happen. This was really exciting for me to read about and in the future, I am definitely going to keep updated on this subject to see if scientists make any more progress in this field.

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  4. Sarah Goodell
    Mr. Ippolito
    Core Bio: Current Event Comment
    13 May, 2017
    Current Event #12
    Osborne, Hannah. "A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically
    Possible." Newsweek. N.p., 02 May 2017. Web. 02 May 2017. .

    Last week, my classmate, Kevin Leka, wrote a review on the article “A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible” by Newsweek author Hannah Osborne. This article discusses how scientists, such as David Tsang and Ben Tippett, have been investigating ways to create shortcuts in time that could possibly be used for time travel one day. In Kevin’s review, he did a great job addressing both sides of the issue and how it could potentially be beneficial or detrimental to our past, present, and future, depending on who is running the operation. For example, Kevin writes, “Possibly other scientists could theoretically build a time machine and use it for good or worse, to erase history they do not agree with. Like space travel and future space ventures, this has many unknowns and leaves the reader wanting to know more.” By commenting on both sides of this issue, Kevin is making sure to leave out any bias and also discuss the real truth of the matter. Kevin was also able to include quotes from professors and scientists, such as Marika Taylor, and from the original article itself. This technique is used to establish Kevin’s credibility as an author and a critic in writing this review. Finally, Kevin provided an honest, well-developed critique on the author’s article, which allowed his audience to fully understand the author’s style and allowed us to be able to formulate our own opinions on the article and our future decisions regarding this topic.
    Although Kevin’s review was well-written, he could have expanded on a few points in order to make his report more informative. Firstly, he could have addressed the future possibilities of time travel more in depth. If Kevin had talked about what the future looks like regarding time travel, he would give his readers a better review and allow us some insight into what we may experience later on in our lives. Also, Kevin could have included a longer summary and discussed the specific experiments the two scientists he mentions were performing to further their developments. He could have expanded on this when he says, “Osborne explains how a David Tsang, an astrophysicist from the University of Maryland, and Ben Tippett at the University of British Columbia, Canada, believe that mathematically reverse time travel is possible by creating shortcuts in a spacetime.” If he had done this, his review would have allowed his audience to better understand the context of this situation and imagine where we can go from here.
    To conclude, Kevin’s review has made me think more about the possibilities of time travel and the technology that our future holds at a more realistic standpoint than before. Previously, I had never thought that time travel could actually be possible. I have seen many photos, that have supposedly been altered, claiming that time travel does exist, however, I have never truly believed in this phenomenon. For me, it is a scary thought that we may be able to move throughout time and even shift time and history itself. As Kevin said, there are so many unknowns in a field such as this one, and we have no idea how this would impact our lives and our future as a whole.

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  5. Julian Thomet
    Mr. Ippolito
    Bio IH D135
    6 June, 2017

    Current Events 14
    For this week’s current events, I read Kevin Leka’s review of the article “A New Mind-Boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible.” As if the title were not enough to enthrall any reader, Kevin’s passion in his review was truly tangible. In every sentence, it was clear that he was very excited about what he had read and that he wanted us to be as well. Another thing that Kevin did well was that he included a lengthy section, in which he reviewed the quality of the article and how it could be improved. This is good, because it shows that he actually read the article critically, rather than just briefly skimming through it. In his paragraph about the article, Kevin manages to effectively explain what the issues with the article were, namely that it was a bit too complicated at times. He still acknowledges, though, that this does not detract from how fascinating a topic this is. Finally, Kevin also brought up an important side note to consider when talking about time travel. Namely, the morality behind changing past events according to one’s own desires. Obviously, this would pose serious problems for humanity, and would have to be discussed before anyone attempted to travel in time.
    Though there were many positives to Kevin’s review, there were one or two things that he could have improved upon. The first is grammar. There were one or two places where there were issues with grammar. Although none of these made his review unreadable, it would have been helpful to have those fixed. The obvious way to deal with these is to proofread the review once more. One other thing that Kevin could have improved upon is to explain how this article pertains to society. Although some of these can be inferred from Kevin’s writing, it would be nice to know what, if any, impact these findings could have on us. All it would have taken is one or two sentences on the subject.
    The thing that struck me the most about this subject is the fact that time travel may actually be possible. As Kevin notes in his review, time travel is the fascination of every kid, and the fact that it could theoretically happen is mind-boggling. Of course, I was also struck by the fact that something as powerful as time travel could likely be abused and used for personal motivation, and that fact is as frightening as time travel is exciting.

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  6. Teddy Wardell
    11/14/18
    Bio C Odd
    Current Event #8

    Osborne, Hannah. "A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible." Newsweek. N.p., 02 May 2017. Web. 02 May 2017. .

    For this week's current event I read Kevin Leka’s review on the "A New Mind-boggling Model Shows How Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible," written by Hannah Osborne and published on Newsweek today. This article describes how Time Travel technically speaking could happen if using current mathematics. The article discusses the possibility of time travel, something that has been a topic of interest for quite some time, and how this process can now be explained mathematically. I think that Kevin did a very good job writing this article and did numerous things to improve the text. For example, Kevin had a lot of details in her article which helped make it easier for the readers to understand and made the article much more interesting to read. Kevin also did a great job in grabbing the reader's attention. She did this by stating interesting facts which benefited the article. This his helped the reader not get bored while reading. Another thing that Kevin did well was give a strong opinion on weather or not she thought the article was good. She said that she enjoyed the article and we can tell from her response.
    Kevin had a very solid article. However, I would have added some things to the text to make it even better. First, Kevin had some grammar mistakes such as missing punctuation. This could have been easily fixed by proof reading the paper or using an application like grammarly to check the work. Another, thing that I would have changed is having a bit more explanation in the final paragraph. This would help the reader understand why you liked or disliked certain aspects of the article.
    I found this article very interesting and I learned a lot from it. One thing that I found to be interesting was the fact that Time Travel could possibly happen. This is very unlikely but is still very mind-blowing. Overall, I thought that this article was very well written and was very insightful.


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