Top 5 SCI-FI TIME TRAVEL METHODS

Robert Lamb, HowStuffWorks.com
 

Time Out

star trek time travel superman sci-fi movie
Bouncing through time is effortless for the cast of Lost, but why? Is it down to quantum mechanics? Or a wormhole? Will we ever find out? Do we care? Photo Credit: AP
 

1. Lost on a Time-Traveling Island

If you've watched ABC's "Lost," then you're probably used to things not making a lot of sense. A big reason for this is that the show's mysterious island bounces the characters around through time seamlessly.

Seriously, by the end of the series, everyone will be lucky to make it off the island without becoming their own grandparent.

Yet "Lost" at least makes an effort to prop up the fiction with a little science. According to blog analysis at Popular Mechanics, the science behind the show's time travel seems to depend on quantum mechanics, a mysterious substance in the ground called "exotic material" and possibly a wormhole.

Might this buried, volatile substance produce the necessary energy to manipulate a breach in spacetime?

To varying degrees, you could argue that this is all any writer can achieve when crafting a piece of time-travel fiction -- not counting writers who are actually from the future, of course.

More on How Warp Speed Works from How Stuff Works space science

Article posted June 8, 2009.

Got something to say? Email your questions, comments or concerns to discoveryspace@discovery.com.

MORE TOP 5 AND 10 LISTS

 
advertisement

Get More of the Wide Angle

warp drive time travel star trek superman lost
Want more? Click here for the rest of the Wide Angle: Surfing Spacetime. Credit: iStockPhoto
 

Need More Space? Get It Here!

 

What's On Now

Feb 11,
9:00 pm
60 min(s)
Curiosity: Why Is Sex Fun?
 
Orgasm - one of the most intense pleasures. But what are orgasms
Feb 11,
10:00 pm
60 min(s)
Anatomy of Sex
 
The human body works in specific, yet subtle ways in order to ens
Feb 11,
11:00 pm
60 min(s)
Curiosity: Why Is Sex Fun?
 
Orgasm - one of the most intense pleasures. But what are orgasms
Feb 12,
12:00 am
60 min(s)
Anatomy of Sex
 
The human body works in specific, yet subtle ways in order to ens
Feb 12,
1:00 am
60 min(s)
I (Almost) Got Away with It
Got to Wear a Pink Shirt
 
Abraham Cavazos shoots a man at a party and flees to Juarez, Mexi
 
newsletter
 
 

our sites

video

 

mobile

shop

stay connected

corporate