On Thu, Jun 01, 2000 at 04:09:32PM -0400, Brian Atkins wrote:
>
> What I mean is the difference between someone watching a moon landing
> in 1969 on TV vs. someone watching it on Alpha Centauri many years later.
> In either case there is a delay, and even if you had instant (FTL) TV
> signals from the moon to your TV in 1969 there still is no way that I
> see that you actually are going "back in time" or causing any kind of
> paradox.
By classical physics, you are right.
With relativity things happen differently.
If you are standing next to Fred, and are stationary relative to him,
time moves at the same speed for both of you.
If you are walking past Fred, your time is a little slower.
If you are flying past Fred in a spaceship at near light speed, it is a
lot slower.
If you are a photon, and flying past him at the speed of light, time is
stationary for you.
If you are flying past him at faster than the speed of light, time for
you goes backwards. Hence, you arrive before you left.
Martin
-- -----[ Martin J. Ling ]-----[ http://www.nodezero.org.uk ]-----
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