Hypothetical: Time Machine

[FasterTraffic]

Here's the scenario:

The world's foremast technologists and physicists have cracked the code for reliable time travel. The time travel machine is roughly the size of a phone booth. The settings for the time machine are accurate enough to enable travel to a specific date and location anywhere in the world.


There are only four restrictions:

You cannot travel to a date within one year prior to your birth.
You can take along only what fits in the phone booth.
You can't return to your own time for 365 days.
The phone booth makes one trip there and one trip back; it cannot travel without you.
Would you go? Where would you go? What would you take?

:bigears:

[Milton Fox]

Yes to Metropolis with Super Man

[DukeAllen]

I'd go hang with Jesus. I'd take along meds, food, gold for money, a camera...and a bible to get it autographed :D

[BADRACR1]

So many choices.

Richmond, VA, Feb 1962. An M16, a .223, a quality sniper rifle, and ammo for each so they could be replicated. Feck the Yankees.:BADRACR1:

Hitler's headquarters, Berlin, Germany, 1938. Small thermonuclear bomb. Feck the Germans.:USA:

Pearl Harbor, Dec 5, 1941. Newspaper from Dec 8, 1941 and a history book. Feck the Japs.:USA:

New York, 9/10/01. DVD of the terrorist attacks. Feck the terrorists.:USA:

And if I could be a little selfish, my son's house, July 27th, 2010, 10:15 pm. I wouldn't need anything. Just be there to watch my grandson.:sadangel:
<<<

I could give more, but I'll give someone else a chance. Might not get back from Germany, but hey, some sacrifices are worth it.

[NeedSpeed]

Here's the scenario:

The world's foremast technologists and physicists have cracked the code for reliable time travel. The time travel machine is roughly the size of a phone booth. The settings for the time machine are accurate enough to enable travel to a specific date and location anywhere in the world.


This is a Vette forum, you could of at least made it a DeLorean instead of Bill & Ted. :slap:

[ApexOversteer]

Would you go?

Hell Yes.

What would you take?

$10MM in period correct legal tender.

Where would you go?

I'd start January 1st, 1966 in Monaco, relax a bit, do the international playboy thing for a few weeks, and then start the year in earnest with the Monte Carlo Rally on the 21st, and spend the next 365 days jetsetting around the world attending every major race event I can possibly get to.

Daytona, the stock car, motorcycle and sports car races, Sebring, Indianapolis, Le Mans, Nurburgring 24 Hours, Targa Florio, Isle Of Man TT and as many of the Formula One Grands Prix as possible.

Between race events, I'd also see Grand Prix in the original Cinerama presentation, as well as catch The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Fantastic Voyage, The Blue Max, Wild Angels, Stagecoach, El Dorado and The Professionals on the big screen as intended.

End the year sliding a half dozen carefully prepped '63 Ferrari 250GTOs into a secret vault at J.P. Morgan.

Return to present day.

[Sneaks]

Way too many times, and places.....
This would require some SERIOUS thought, if you could only go one time.

[DukeAllen]

This is a Vette forum, you could of at least made it a DeLorean instead of Bill & Ted. :slap:

I though it was more Doctor Who, but it's just as ghey.:yesnod:

[FasterTraffic]

I was pondering this after reading our favorite dinosaur book with my daughter. Since I was knee high to a grasshopper, I've thought it would be amazing to actually see the dinosaurs from my books in person. Of course, I imagine the drawback is the late Cretaceous would be an awfully tough place to survive for a year.

The other strong contender is Concord, MA, on April 17, 1775. It's a much easier time to survive (no Tyrannosaurs!) and it would be amazing to witness the birth of this country.

[kingpin]

I'd go back to this exact time and walk away from the table full of food.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/kingpin111/197044_1015710345469_8830_n_zps325b676b.jpg

[LisaJohn]

August 21, 1980, 12:05. I would leave my house 15 to 30 seconds earlier or later. I would take some clothes.

[Rob]

August 15th, 1977 so I could save Elvis!

:seasix:

[island14]

June 5th, 1983

[C5Nate]

Go back to 1995, start a Corvette specific forum.

After a few years ask for investors to buy new servers to speed up the service.

Offer lots of storage space and other privileges in exchange for $200.00.

Hand out pretty gold stars as thanks.

Turn around and sell web site for mega $$$ knowing they will tell the new investors to pound sand when asked about the storage space and privileges.

Make no offer to reimburse investors for their contributions.


Lather, rinse, repeat.

[CP]

So many choices.

Richmond, VA, Feb 1962.

:confused5:

WTH happened in 1962 in Virginia?

[ApexOversteer]

I was pondering this after reading our favorite dinosaur book with my daughter. Since I was knee high to a grasshopper, I've thought it would be amazing to actually see the dinosaurs from my books in person. Of course, I imagine the drawback is the late Cretaceous would be an awfully tough place to survive for a year.

I thought about that and it is indeed the 365 day requirement that really makes visiting the Mesozoic problematic. You just can't fit the required gear for a year long stay in a phonebooth.

You could phonebooth into the Cretaceous for a 90 day stay if you were an Army Ranger, or a Navy SEAL, or maybe an intelligent Bear Grylls. But that would be about it for a "safe" trip, using the booth.

The main problem would be food, followed by fuel for the chainsaw, the flame throwers and the drones. The sonic cannon would have to be assembled onsite.

If the phonebooth must be used, the OP doesn't say the booth can't return, only that YOU can't return. I'd send ahead some booth loads of gear, and supplies, before making the jump myself.

I think western Montana, or Southwestern Alberta would be the right place. Stay away from water, it is dangerous enough on land.

The idea being to witness the variety of wildlife, you'd want to find a prey species, preferably something that masses in enormous herds. If Tyrannosaurs are a priority species for you, my money would be on following the Edmontosaurus herds. The two species are often found together as fossils, and we have definitive evidence of their predator/prey relationship.

But, T. Rex isn't the one you need to worry about, safety-wise. You're much more at risk from the raptors, especially Dienonychus and Utahraptor. Even the tiny Velociraptor would be like meeting a school of land Piranaha. And I'm betting the raptors can climb trees.

I'd say find a lake island with nothing bigger than mouse on it, but we're staying away from the water.

You'd want a shallow cave, with at least two entrances, one of which you can barricade shut, openable from the inside. Something like what Marshall, Will and Holly had on Land Of The Lost would be perfect. Some place where you only need to watch one entrance, where you would have your fire.

Of course you could go whole-hog and make a mobile compound complete with power generation, wildlife mitigation features and a 30-foot-tall electrified fence. Turn that into a time machine and go full Dinosafari.

Just stay away from the water.

[FasterTraffic]

:confused5:

WTH happened in 1962 in Virginia?

Houston Miller Scott (born February 9, 1962, Richmond, Virginia, United States) is an American harmonica player.

I'm not a big fan of the harmonica but it takes a lot of hate to use a time machine solely to go back and shoot a harmonica player at birth.

[FasterTraffic]

I thought about that and it is indeed the 365 day requirement that really makes visiting the Mesozoic problematic. You just can't fit the required gear for a year long stay in a phonebooth.

If the phonebooth must be used, the OP doesn't say the booth can't return, only that YOU can't return. I'd send ahead some booth loads of gear, and supplies, before making the jump myself.

I didn't state it explicitly but I was thinking it's one trip there and one trip back in 365 days. I chose the phone booth because, as you stated, it makes certain time periods much more perilous. A really nice 30.06 might keep you safe in the modern wilderness but it's not likely to stop a major predator from the dinosaur age. Plus, the one-year requirement means you can't just take a year supply of food and water with you.

[MrPeabody]

Only have to go back a bout a week. One word: Lottery.:seasix:

[Grey Ghost]

July 1st, 1863. Gettysburg, PA.

[ApexOversteer]

I didn't state it explicitly but I was thinking it's one trip there and one trip back in 365 days. I chose the phone booth because, as you stated, it makes certain time periods much more perilous.

The phonebooth limiting you to just you is key as well. Not having a companion has consequences in such a hostile environment. Especially when the wildlife hunt in packs...

[MrPeabody]

July 1st, 1863. Gettysburg, PA.

I thought about that one, too, but what would you do, exactly?

[ApexOversteer]

Only have to go back a bout a week. One word: Lottery.:seasix:

Remember to go back to the week before the big jackpot is won, so you're not sharing the money with whoever actually won it...

[BADRACR1]

:confused5:

WTH happened in 1962 in Virginia?

Good time to start changing the War of Northern Agression!:BADRACR1:

[MEC5LADY]

There are way too many dates/times I would like to go back to prevent many sorrows and much suffering I wouldn't know where to begin.:sadangel:

[C5Nate]

August 21, 1980, 12:05. I would leave my house 15 to 30 seconds earlier or later. I would take some clothes.


Today in History for 21st August 1980


Historical Events
Events 1 - 1 of 1

- Linda Ronstadt opens in "Pirates of Penzance" on Broadway


Miss the show?

[Grey Ghost]

I was a Confed. reenactor at the 135th anv. We reenacted to detail several of the battles that made up Gettysburg. The exact time a battle started, ended, outcome, etc...There was a scenario, and everyone followed it. We had over 25,000 reenactors. Probably the largest at a reenactment...ever. Enough to do a full-scale Pickett's charge. I think it was as realistic as it will ever get. This year is the 150th. I plan and hope to be there to do it one more time.

Day 3, 1:00 PM., in that tree line that borders an open field. You are passing small talk with your pards. Then the ground shakes and your ears split from 140 cannons opening fire. Your heart rate and adrenalin pegs near maximum. Then comes the command, "Up boys and to your post".

I thought about that one, too, but what would you do, exactly?

[GentleBen]

$25,000 in periodic correct currency in New York City on October 10, 1929. I'd have two weeks of run up to Black Thursday (October 24th) which started the Great Depression.

If I couldn't come back to the present in a year with enough money to be one of, if not the, richest people on earth then I don't deserve the opportunity.

The first thing I would do upon my return would be to tell Warren Buffet, the "Oracle of Omaha" aka the Absolute A**hole of America is that there is nothing in the US Tax code which would preclude him from voluntarily providing money to the US Treasury in excess of his tax bill and to shut his mouth about increasing tax rates.:seasix:

[MrPeabody]

I was a Confed. reenactor at the 135th anv. We reenacted to detail several of the battles that made up Gettysburg. The exact time a battle started, ended, outcome, etc...There was a scenario, and everyone followed it. We had over 25,000 reenactors. Probably the largest at a reenactment...ever. Enough to do a full-scale Pickett's charge. I think it was as realistic as it will ever get. This year is the 150th. I plan and hope to be there to do it one more time.

Day 3, 1:00 PM., in that tree line that borders an open field. You are passing small talk with your pards. Then the ground shakes and your ears split from 140 cannons opening fire. Your heart rate and adrenalin pegs near maximum. Then comes the command, "Up boys and to your post".

Cool hobby. Maybe I'm not understanding you. You would actually want to be part of the real Pickett's charge? I mean you can commit suicide right here without a time machine. ???

[Grey Ghost]

How about you ? What would you do ?

This year is the 150th anv. IF there is anyway that you can make it to the reenactment. I highly recommend it ! There will never be another 150th and I doubt, as large of a reenactment that is planned. :seasix:

I thought about that one, too, but what would you do, exactly?

[MrPeabody]

How about you ? What would you do ?

This year is the 150th anv. IF there is anyway that you can make it to the reenactment. I highly recommend it ! There will never be another 150th and I doubt, as large of a reenactment that is planned. :seasix:

I don't know what one man could do, unless he was in command. If I was Pickett, I might say "You know, General Lee, this might not be such a good idea." It has always fascinated me how those men followed orders even though they faced certain death. Not just there, but at many battles.

[Grey Ghost]

Gen. Longstreet, tried his best to persuade Gen. Lee to move towards Wash. after the first 2 days. It's always been a huge debate about what was going on/thought process in Lee's mind to order Pickett's Charge. The fascinating thing about CW history is all the 'what ifs'.

I don't know what one man could do, unless he was in command. If I was Pickett, I might say "You know, General Lee, this might not be such a good idea." It has always fascinated me how those men followed orders even though they faced certain death. Not just there, but at many battles.

[LisaJohn]

Miss the show?

I had a life changing car wreck and I was wearing a swimsuit.

[DAB]

Buy a shit load of certain stocks.

[FasterTraffic]

July 1st, 1863. Gettysburg, PA.

There are many major engagements throughout history that would be amazing to witness. That said, being witness to some battles would also include the strong possibility that you unwittingly become a participant in the battle. It's all fun and games until you take a Minie ball to the chest.

[C5Nate]

I had a life changing car wreck and I was wearing a swimsuit.


Ouch, sorry to hear about the wreck.

But...what does the swimsuit have to do with it?

[kingpin]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the wreck.

But...what does the swimsuit have to do with it?

That was so random./ :rofl:

[kylebuck]

I would go back to the battle of themopylae . With my .357, my browning 7, body armor, and shit ton of ammo....
destroy some Persians.

[DAB]

I would go back to the battle of themopylae . With my .357, my browning 7, body armor, and shit ton of ammo....
destroy some Persians.

Boomstick!! Shop smart, shop S-Mart.

[Cybercowboy]

Remember to go back to the week before the big jackpot is won, so you're not sharing the money with whoever actually won it...

Just go back to a week where the pot was huge but nobody won. Happens often enough. Then just play the previously-unclaimed winning numbers.

Do this as far back in time as you can, and get the on-time payout. Deposit it in a number of interest-bearing accounts. When you return you should have some pretty substantial holdings.

I do like the idea of buying a few rare items that were fairly inexpensive back when they were produced and squirreling them away somewhere safe. It would be quite dangerous to actually interact with history in any meaningful way. For those who would change the outcome of various battles, you could return to find that your time machine had not been invented and the world was in chaos, and all that money and stuff you stashed away was simply nowhere to be found.

[SnikPlosskin]

I thought about that and it is indeed the 365 day requirement that really makes visiting the Mesozoic problematic. You just can't fit the required gear for a year long stay in a phonebooth.

You could phonebooth into the Cretaceous for a 90 day stay if you were an Army Ranger, or a Navy SEAL, or maybe an intelligent Bear Grylls. But that would be about it for a "safe" trip, using the booth.

The main problem would be food, followed by fuel for the chainsaw, the flame throwers and the drones. The sonic cannon would have to be assembled onsite.

If the phonebooth must be used, the OP doesn't say the booth can't return, only that YOU can't return. I'd send ahead some booth loads of gear, and supplies, before making the jump myself.

I think western Montana, or Southwestern Alberta would be the right place. Stay away from water, it is dangerous enough on land.

The idea being to witness the variety of wildlife, you'd want to find a prey species, preferably something that masses in enormous herds. If Tyrannosaurs are a priority species for you, my money would be on following the Edmontosaurus herds. The two species are often found together as fossils, and we have definitive evidence of their predator/prey relationship.

But, T. Rex isn't the one you need to worry about, safety-wise. You're much more at risk from the raptors, especially Dienonychus and Utahraptor. Even the tiny Velociraptor would be like meeting a school of land Piranaha. And I'm betting the raptors can climb trees.

I'd say find a lake island with nothing bigger than mouse on it, but we're staying away from the water.

You'd want a shallow cave, with at least two entrances, one of which you can barricade shut, openable from the inside. Something like what Marshall, Will and Holly had on Land Of The Lost would be perfect. Some place where you only need to watch one entrance, where you would have your fire.

Of course you could go whole-hog and make a mobile compound complete with power generation, wildlife mitigation features and a 30-foot-tall electrified fence. Turn that into a time machine and go full Dinosafari.

Just stay away from the water.

We need to get you and my son together. You guys could talk dinosaurs for weeks. :cert:

[DukeAllen]

time machine had not been invented and the world was in chaos, and all that money and stuff you stashed away was simply nowhere to be found.

So your saying someone has already made the trip and screwed us?

[ApexOversteer]

Assuming you COULD change history.

Indeed, go back and kill Hitler's mother, so he is never born and you still end up with a deeply angry, miserable Germany in the 1920's, ripe to be forged into a Europe conquering monster. What if the men that made Hitler, find a different charismatic psycho to lead them, one that actually has some concept of military strategy?

Thanks for killing Hitler, you've doomed us all.

[LisaJohn]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the wreck.

But...what does the swimsuit have to do with it?

I was wearing it. The glass fragments were stuck in the swimsuit material. Nurses picked lots of glass off of me for a long time in the er before they could put me in a hospital gown.

[kingpin]

I was wearing it. The glass fragments were stuck in the swimsuit material. Nurses picked lots of glass off of me for a long time in the er before they could put me in a hospital gown.

:sadangel:

I'm glad you're okay.

[Nemesis]

I'd go back to the 80's and just stay there. I hear that was an awesome time period.

I'd invent the internet, and call it Drewgle. Then I'd start a band called Motley Drew, just for laughs but we'd kick some ass. I'd be the king of the world.

[Jeff '79]

I'd go back to the 80's and just stay there. I hear that was an awesome time period.

I'd invent the internet, and call it Drewgle. Then I'd start a band called Motley Drew, just for laughs but we'd kick some ass. I'd be the king of the world.

:Jeff '79::Jeff '79:

[ApexOversteer]

Take the screenplays to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi and copyright them... in 1969. Return to present day and contact George Lucas' lawyers... tell them to bring Disney with them to the bank.

[FasterTraffic]

I put this hypothetical to Mrs. FasterTraffic and she also said 1775 in order to see the events that put in motion our freedom and independence.

:seasix:

I was pondering this after reading our favorite dinosaur book with my daughter. Since I was knee high to a grasshopper, I've thought it would be amazing to actually see the dinosaurs from my books in person. Of course, I imagine the drawback is the late Cretaceous would be an awfully tough place to survive for a year.

The other strong contender is Concord, MA, on April 17, 1775. It's a much easier time to survive (no Tyrannosaurs!) and it would be amazing to witness the birth of this country.

[MrPeabody]

[twentysomething]What's a phone booth?[twentysomething]

[VatorMan]

I read Apex's posts and have a hard time believing he's a short order cook. Are you sure you and Stephen Hawking haven't had beers ?

[kylebuck]

it reminds me of the stephen king book 11/22/63 where a man goes back in time to stop the jfk assassination. In the book.... history does not like to be changed.

[Nemesis]

I'd go back and find younger me at the arcade and give myself some life advice. Then I'd put a quarter in the arcade horse and ride off into the sunset like a boss.

[Cybercowboy]

Assuming you COULD change history.

Of course you could change history. You'd start a new timeline from that point, essentially spawning a parallel universe. This is very simple basic grade school time travel stuff.

[Cybercowboy]

it reminds me of the stephen king book 11/22/63 where a man goes back in time to stop the jfk assassination. In the book.... history does not like to be changed.

And of course in HG Wells' classic "The Time Traveler" the Time Traveler found that he could not go back in time to save his wife. Each time he tried, she managed to get killed some other bizarre way. That's why he decided to go forward in time instead, to find out if in the future the secret to changing the past had been found. Then there were Eloi chicks and Morlock dudes and AI museum guides...

At any rate, if time travel into the past is at all possible, our intrepid time travelers would be forever leaving their universe. There would be no way for them to return to their original universe. When they did return, the new universe would be their original universe split at the point they traveled back in time, with all the changes (minute or otherwise) incorporated in the timeline. The best they could do would be to go back to just before they first arrived in the past, and kill themselves just as the first version of them materialized, grab any evidence, and immediately return to their future. That would get them back into yet another parallel universe but it would be very much more like their original.

Maybe.

[Grey Ghost]

This was a great TV series yrs. ago. It plays in reruns on one of the cable channels.

Quantum Leap: Yet another show about fixing mistakes in history, but this series made the episodes a bit more personal, as Dr. Sam Beckett could only travel through time within his own lifespan. With his holographic pal Al from the future, he had to figure out what was wrong and fix it so Sam could "leap" out into his next adventure. One of the more emotional moments had Sam leaping into Vietnam to try to stop his brother from dying.