Time Travel to be tested at Vanderbilt University

by Chris Owen on

The world’s largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, could be the first machine capable of causing matter to travel backwards in time. Vanderbilt University physicists are now armed with what they believe is the ability to prove the unprovable, the potential to jump into a fifth dimension.

It’s the latest theory of Professor Tom Weiler and graduate fellow Chui Man Ho that using the Large Haldron Collider is key.
“One of the major goals of the collider is to find the elusive Higgs boson: the particle that physicists invoke to explain why particles like protons, neutrons and electrons have mass. If the collider succeeds in producing the Higgs boson, some scientists predict that it will create a second particle, called the Higgs singlet, at the same time.” reports Vanderbilt’s research news.

Weiler and Ho thing these singlets should have the ability to jump into an extra, fifth dimension where they can move either forward or backward in time and reappear in the future or past.

“One of the attractive things about this approach to time travel is that it avoids all the big paradoxes,” Weiler said. “Because time travel is limited to these special particles, it is not possible for a man to travel back in time and murder one of his parents before he himself is born, for example. However, if scientists could control the production of Higgs singlets, they might be able to send messages to the past or future.”

Hey, it’s a start.

Flickr photo by alancleaver_2000

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Gading Movie Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

by Mike Barish on

We don’t talk about movies much here at Gadling (though we make exceptions when it comes to OnDemand and George Clooney). Recently, however, we were captivated by the trailer for a travel film that left us ready to camp outside our local theater. When a travel film like this comes along, it’s hard for us not to sit up and take notice. And this past weekend, that movie finally hit theaters and demanded our attention. That movie? None other than Hot Tub Time Machine. “But it’s not a travel movie,” you say? Well, it’s called “time travel” not “time staying in one place.” Time travel is the ultimate trip. Rather than just looking at a map and selecting your next destination, you have the entirety of history (and, theoretically, the future) at your fingertips. So, with the excitement of time travel piquing our interest and 80s nostalgia luring us in, we caught a matinee (hey, movie tickets are expensive) of Hot Tub Time Machine over the weekend so that we could share our thoughts with you.

Is it worth your entertainment dollar? Does it capture the zeitgeist of travel? Did we laugh a lot? Keep reading to find out.The film stars 80s movie veteran John Cusack, The Daily Show alum and comedic spitfire Rob Corddry and The Office’s scene stealing Craig Robinson as three old friends who have drifted apart since their heyday in the decade of decadence. Joining them is young Clark Duke, who plays Cusack’s character’s nephew. After Corddry’s character ends up in the hospital, the friends reunite for a weekend bender in their formerly favorite (and now dilapidated) ski town. And, as you probably know by now from the trailer, they end up in a hot tub that is way more than just a seedy, bubbly cauldron of sin.

Where HTTM excels is in its commitment to simplicity. There’s no techno-jargon or flux capacitor. If you’re looking for explanations of the space-time continuum, you’ve purchased tickets to the wrong movie. The writers have basically decided that some movies take place in New York and others take place in the past. The 1980s serve as the location and getting there is less important than what happens there. And, as a comedy, this is a fantastic strategy. Rather than ask the audience to believe a sci-fi explanation of time travel, just get to the punchlines.

And there are plenty of punchlines. Without going over the top with nostalgic 80s references, the film captures the mood of the decade (and the campy comedies that it birthed) through great costumes, classic music and sly references (Karate Kid fans should pay attention throughout). The 80s jokes never have a chance to get old as the dialogue is just clever enough to keep you engaged in the characters. And with a classic (some might say clichéd) storyline centered around missed opportunities and friendships, the plot is an ode to many of the movies that made Cusack famous.

Sure, the film slows down a bit in the second act, but it wraps things up well before you have a chance to get bored. Despite it’s campy title, it’s actually a more subdued comedy than The Hangover. HTTM keeps things simple, starting with its title and continuing through its jokes. But simple isn’t bad. Simple is classic. Just like the 80s.

We’re giving Hot Tub Time Machine 4 chlorine tablets (out of 5). It’s a fantastic comedy and a genuine travel movie. Hot Tub Time Machine is rated R and currently playing in theaters nationwide.

Choose Your Own YouTube Adventure

by Brenda Yun on

What would life be like if we were able to travel through time? I recently came across an entertaining and creative YouTube video that mirrors the premise of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series from the 1980’s.

Filmmakers/Actors Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Rob Polonsky, and Jonah Goldstein tell a very unique story of three ordinary guys who find a time machine that is wanted by Matrix-like Mr. Smith’s. The trio travel through time and have to face dragons and zombies to ultimately avoid the bad guys and return to peaceful life again.

If you’re short on time and want to get to the happy ending, choose these adventures when prompted:

  1. Get In!
  2. Sorry, Rob!
  3. The Agents!
  4. Sorry, We’re Late for a Meeting

If you follow these choices, your viewing time is about 10 minutes. Enjoy your time travels!

Adelaide 2008-based time traveler attempts to pay bill with spider drawing

by Annie Scott on

In case you’ve been time traveling and are confused, utility companies in Adelaide, Australia do not accept drawings of spiders as payment for utility bills. Read the article here.

I’m disappointed, of course, that artwork is still not accepted as currency. Just imagine the kind of economy we could build:

If someone rich was owed money by someone poor, the poor person could just draw a picture, and the rich person could hang it on their wall. Or, if a poor person wanted food, they could just draw a picture of the food they wanted and then leave the drawing on the shelf at the grocery store, confidently striding out the door with the item. But then, of course, rich people would want to pay for things with artwork, too, so eventually someone would have to judge how much each work of art is worth. Thusly, this new economy, which for just a moment teetered on the edge of communism, would become a dictatorship – unless, of course, there were some kind of international online community where everyone in the world could vote and value each piece of new art democratically. A new world economy would be born. What? It’s better than the one we have right now. . .

I think maybe David Thorne traveled to the future.

Madeline L’Engle and a Wrinkle in Time in Albany, Oregon

by Jamie Rhein on

I wanted to find Wrinkle in Time tours or Madeleine L’Engle tours because she died this week and her Newberry Award winning book A Wrinkle in Time is perhaps one of the best examples of travel writing there is. Okay, maybe that’s stretching it, but seriously, isn’t traveling through time and space a travel theme that appears over and over again?

At any rate, I was hoping to find a travel angle so I could pay Madeleine L’Engle a fitting tribute. That book is my all time favorite–a treasure–something beyond just a good read–a book that as a writer, and as a person on this planet with all its troubles and triumphs, I am inspired by. I don’t know. Perhaps it’s the theme of good overcoming evil. Or that in there is a place in the world for oddballs, and that listening to your internal compass is a worthy travel guide. Or is it that it’s just so perfectly written?

I couldn’t find a Wrinkle in Time tour that has anything to do with the book or with Madeleine L’Engle, but I did find an article on the historic town Albany, Oregon with a heading, “A Wrinkle in Time.”

Albany, Oregon is featured as a weekend getaway destination on Via, a AAA companion publication. Here’s what makes Albany worth going to: 700 historic buildings (the most in one place in Oregon); covered bridges (8 of them on a driving tour), tree shaded streets for strolling, and eating and shopping establishments that are geared towards retaining the flavor of small town charm. If you go there, think of Madeleine, even though, she has nothing to do with the place. The photo is of one of the covered bridges in Albany. Think of it as a metaphor for crossing over from one place to another, the known to the unknown–like traveling through space and time–like in A Wrinkle in Time. Just trying to make a connection here.