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From: kaufman@nike.uucp (Bill Kaufman)
Newsgroups: net.physics,net.sci,net.philosophy,net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: A Sane Man Proposes A Time Travel Experiment
Message-ID: <466@nike.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Aug-86 15:29:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: nike.466
Posted: Tue Aug  5 15:29:10 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 5-Aug-86 23:14:16 EDT
References: <622@ulowell.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@nike.UUCP
Reply-To: kaufman@orion.UUCP (Bill Kaufman)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Lines: 44
Keywords: Possible THRICE UPON A TIME spoiler, LONG
Xref: mnetor net.physics:2541 net.sci:1168 net.philosophy:2247 net.sf-lovers:7344

In article <622@ulowell.UUCP> dobro@ulowell.UUCP (Gryphon) writes:
>Short summary: the existance of an additional type of energy (tau) is
>discovered. Seems that this energy is created (no comments :-}) whenever
>another form of energy is released. This tau energy travels back in time
>a distance directly proportional to the amount of energy. SO, these guys
>who discovered this (who also happen to be hackers) design a machine to
>monitor recption of this type of energy. Then they experiment by sending
>forward (sorry, it can go forward or back, distance proportional ...)
>and having the future people send messages back.

Close enough: The radiation was (in every instance I can remember) sent
back in time.  Sending it forward in time is:
     a) No trick (read, "fun") at all.  It happens all the time.  This
	  posting is going forward in time, and will reach you all at
	  a time later than it was sent.
     b) Inconclusive.  It doesn't show any real change in the universe.
	  Say, in 1941, I send you (here/now) a note saying, "The Japa-
	  nese bomb Pearl Harbor," would you do anything different?
     c) Impossible in the context of the story, I believe.
[FYI, the information is passed as "bleeps", pulses of tau radiation, in
a basic serial computer transmission, picked up at the other end by the
same computer.]

>Now, Hogan also came up with what the characters called the 'reset factor'.
>This was basically that certain amounts of tau radiation will be constantly
>jumping back and forward and changing things, even as minor as the placement
                  ^^^^^^^ [See above.]
>of a single molecule. But, that can have unforseen affects. However, once
>a change is made in the past, reality is retroactively reset to
>have that as its past. Scary thought.

Yeah, but it doesn't happen often (it took the old guy YEARS to prove
it even existed), and only interacts on an atomic level.  Barely, at 
that.

					-Annoyingly,
					 Bilbo.
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