A new scientific study focusing on time travel suggests that, theoretically, it is possible to go back to the past without creating a paradox that alters the future. Of course, this goes against what most of us know about time travel according to an article from Nashville Public Radio.
In fiction, we almost always see that a time travel creates a temporal paradox, making the events of the future to be completely different from the one the characters came from. Now, however, research conducted in Australia says the future will remain the same despite any change brought about by a change in reality.
From varying calculations, scientists determined that even if you made a change in the past, the timeline would essentially self-correct. Fabio Costa, from the University of Queensland, explains:
“Say you traveled in time in an attempt to stop COVID-19’s patient zero from being exposed to the virus. However, if you stopped that individual from becoming infected, that would eliminate the motivation for you to go back and stop the pandemic in the first place. This is a paradox — an inconsistency that often leads people to think that time travel cannot occur in our universe. You might try and stop patient zero from becoming infected, but in doing so, you would catch the virus and become patient zero, or someone else would. No matter what you did, the salient events would just recalibrate around you.”
Today, the real possibility of time travel is practically non-existent with regard to the practical point of view, since there is no technology for this. However, it is theoretically possible, as studies show.
In fiction, time travel is one of the most used elements, whether in books, comics, video games and films. Some of the most popular works are the Back to the Future trilogy, the Terminator franchise, as well as Harry Potter and the recent Marvel Studios film Avengers: Endgame.
