Shemp, are you talking about the Theory of Relativity? Einstein's theory says basically that time moves relative to speed.

Here's how it was explained to me. Let's assume a space ship could travel faster than light and went on a trip to the next closest star system and returned to earth in four years. Due to relativity, the astronauts on the ship would have aged four years, but the earth would have aged many more than four years during the trip. I can't say I understand it, but that's how it was eplained.

I've never heard that an object could move back in time by going faster than the speed of light. I'm not saying it isn't true, I'm just saying I've not heard that before.

There is waaaaaay more to the theory of relativity than that. The theory of relativity is a concept that you sort of explained but it really was used as a calculation to calculate a stars movement. IE it took into effect gravity, time and space. Your explanation (although not untrue) really only explains one aspect of it.

In your scenario think about it this way. Think about it from the perspective of where you left. You will be moving faster than that light. When you move at light, time (essentially) stops. So you are going back in time (I think). I really never took any classes where people really discussed going back in time. Its pretty much not possible (IMO) and thus unreal. Maybe some people think it is, but I hate to sound like a wet blanket - it isnt going to happen.

I thought of something that might help explain it. Think of it this way. Lets say you can see life 1 million light years away clearly. You would be viewing history. But you could not reach it. Time travel would not allow you to go to your same place in 1950, but instead you might be able to view it, just not interact with it.

time is man made, just like global warming

Perhaps you would both care to comment on my Unified Field Theory equation:

e=mc2 x ugc (the universal gravitational constant) / 42 (the HitchHiker's guide to the Galaxy ultimate answer) + the daily hairspray usage of DQ in gallons

I think it ties things up rather nicely...

Read a Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking - it explains it in a pretty good way.

And the way he describes it is that going 'back in time' is probably the easiest way to time travel... not that you would be actually time traveling back in time, you would just be at a point in space-time.

You can really travel faster than the speed of light, theoretically (i think) it would make it so you had infinite mass.

Take us out of here, warp speed Mr. Sulu.

the only poster with infinite mass currently is Peepers

Ahh, but all COLDCUTS create mass hysteria...

I think my head is going to explode.

I really should read that book. I find this stuff fascinating. I agree with GW in that I don't think time travel is possible, unless we're all being fooled by Doctor Who. There are a number of paradoxes that seem to logically indicate that time travel is impossible or has not occured. There is the "Grandfather Paradox," the "Ontological Paradox," and the "Predestination Paradox."

admittedly, I often only go to Mass on Christmas eve

So conceivably if you could travel faster than light, you could watch your arrival from your destination after you get there?

didn't that very thing happen in the latest Star Trek?

I guess it depends on how much faster, but yeah, sounds like it to me. Let's bring it down a little...

We know objects can travel faster than the speed of sound. So, if you travel faster than the speed of sound, make a loud noise, keep traveling and then suddenly stop, would you hear the sound after the waves caught up to where you stopped? Could you go back faster than the speed of sound, make another noise, go forward again and stop, could you hear the second sound before the first sound?

I'm sure this is possible somehow - you would have to go fast enough to create a large time difference between making the noise and your destination, but be able to slow down enough that it could catch up to you, over a distance traveled that is not too far for the sound to be too quiet to hear. I imagine that you would have to stop rather quickly for this to work, and make a loud noise.

.....have to stop rather quickly ....and make a loud noise..

TMOS has done this on occasion, had the notify button hit on him and I have personally reprimanded him.....

If I want to see back in time, I just remind Ms.Gilmore of something silly she had done before...this causes her to break out recounting the countless knucklehead exploits i've allegedly been involved in dating back to high school...