h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Did he have to refill his in the Rift?

Time travel is often considered possible, but how could it be? To go backwards in time, you would have to undo some of the expansion of the universe. That is a bit of a challenge. To go forward, you would have to predict its outcome. While every event in the universe is indeed physically contingent on what goes before it, the working out can only be done once, in real time. Just saying.

The problem of remaining in "the same place" while time-travelling is another conundrum. Place and time move together. The earth is not where it was yesterday.

>>The earth is not where it was yesterday.<<

That is an excellent point, and one that often befuddles me when all this comes up.

To me, the best 'time travel' books were those by Jack Finney, who was so good at this kind of make-believe that one of his early short stories ended up being an urban legend. In 'Time and Again', Finney had people travel back in time by re-enacting and using material culture items and perdurant buildings.

Which, of course, isn't science. It's just fooling around.

In Finney's book, the main characters got back to their present, which was 1970, by falling asleep in the arm of the Statue of Liberty. They fell asleep in the middle of a roundabout in New York City in the 1880s, and woke up on Liberty Island, which was a pretty cool trick. (And then found out how much history they had messed up in the process...)

You're going to like the 18 June issue. That's when some of the fiction writers around here tackle the so-called Mandela Effect. Much worse than time travel.

Mountains, beaches, Bara Brith, all within walking distance. That is why Wales is the place. (please mind that some people can walk immense distances, given enough time)