event time travel

Is Time Travel Possible?

We all travel in time! We travel one year in time between birthdays, for example. And we are all traveling in time at approximately the same speed: 1 second per second.

We typically experience time at one second per second. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's space telescopes also give us a way to look back in time. Telescopes help us see stars and galaxies that are very far away . It takes a long time for the light from faraway galaxies to reach us. So, when we look into the sky with a telescope, we are seeing what those stars and galaxies looked like a very long time ago.

However, when we think of the phrase "time travel," we are usually thinking of traveling faster than 1 second per second. That kind of time travel sounds like something you'd only see in movies or science fiction books. Could it be real? Science says yes!

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows galaxies that are very far away as they existed a very long time ago. Credit: NASA, ESA and R. Thompson (Univ. Arizona)

How do we know that time travel is possible?

More than 100 years ago, a famous scientist named Albert Einstein came up with an idea about how time works. He called it relativity. This theory says that time and space are linked together. Einstein also said our universe has a speed limit: nothing can travel faster than the speed of light (186,000 miles per second).

Einstein's theory of relativity says that space and time are linked together. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What does this mean for time travel? Well, according to this theory, the faster you travel, the slower you experience time. Scientists have done some experiments to show that this is true.

For example, there was an experiment that used two clocks set to the exact same time. One clock stayed on Earth, while the other flew in an airplane (going in the same direction Earth rotates).

After the airplane flew around the world, scientists compared the two clocks. The clock on the fast-moving airplane was slightly behind the clock on the ground. So, the clock on the airplane was traveling slightly slower in time than 1 second per second.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Can we use time travel in everyday life?

We can't use a time machine to travel hundreds of years into the past or future. That kind of time travel only happens in books and movies. But the math of time travel does affect the things we use every day.

For example, we use GPS satellites to help us figure out how to get to new places. (Check out our video about how GPS satellites work .) NASA scientists also use a high-accuracy version of GPS to keep track of where satellites are in space. But did you know that GPS relies on time-travel calculations to help you get around town?

GPS satellites orbit around Earth very quickly at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. This slows down GPS satellite clocks by a small fraction of a second (similar to the airplane example above).

GPS satellites orbit around Earth at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. Credit: GPS.gov

However, the satellites are also orbiting Earth about 12,550 miles (20,200 km) above the surface. This actually speeds up GPS satellite clocks by a slighter larger fraction of a second.

Here's how: Einstein's theory also says that gravity curves space and time, causing the passage of time to slow down. High up where the satellites orbit, Earth's gravity is much weaker. This causes the clocks on GPS satellites to run faster than clocks on the ground.

The combined result is that the clocks on GPS satellites experience time at a rate slightly faster than 1 second per second. Luckily, scientists can use math to correct these differences in time.

If scientists didn't correct the GPS clocks, there would be big problems. GPS satellites wouldn't be able to correctly calculate their position or yours. The errors would add up to a few miles each day, which is a big deal. GPS maps might think your home is nowhere near where it actually is!

In Summary:

Yes, time travel is indeed a real thing. But it's not quite what you've probably seen in the movies. Under certain conditions, it is possible to experience time passing at a different rate than 1 second per second. And there are important reasons why we need to understand this real-world form of time travel.

If you liked this, you may like:

• [ November 30, 2022 ] The Night Sky This Month: December 2022 Night Sky
• [ November 22, 2022 ] James Webb Telescope Turns Its Attention To The Kuiper Belt News & Events
• [ November 1, 2022 ] The Night Sky This Month: November 2022 Night Sky
• [ October 4, 2022 ] Are Wormholes Fact or Fiction? General Astronomy
• [ October 1, 2022 ] The Night Sky This Month: October 2022 Night Sky

5 Bizarre Paradoxes Of Time Travel Explained

December 20, 2014 James Miller Astronomy Lists , Time Travel 58

There is nothing in Einstein’s theories of relativity to rule out time travel , although the very notion of traveling to the past violates one of the most fundamental premises of physics, that of causality. With the laws of cause and effect out the window, there naturally arises a number of inconsistencies associated with time travel, and listed here are some of those paradoxes which have given both scientists and time travel movie buffs alike more than a few sleepless nights over the years.

Types of Temporal Paradoxes

The time travel paradoxes that follow fall into two broad categories:

1) Closed Causal Loops , such as the Predestination Paradox and the Bootstrap Paradox, which involve a self-existing time loop in which cause and effect run in a repeating circle, but is also internally consistent with the timeline’s history.

2) Consistency Paradoxes , such as the Grandfather Paradox and other similar variants such as The Hitler paradox, and Polchinski’s Paradox, which generate a number of timeline inconsistencies related to the possibility of altering the past.

1: Predestination Paradox

A Predestination Paradox occurs when the actions of a person traveling back in time become part of past events, and may ultimately cause the event he is trying to prevent to take place. The result is a ‘temporal causality loop’ in which Event 1 in the past influences Event 2 in the future (time travel to the past) which then causes Event 1 to occur.

This circular loop of events ensures that history is not altered by the time traveler, and that any attempts to stop something from happening in the past will simply lead to the cause itself, instead of stopping it. Predestination paradoxes suggest that things are always destined to turn out the same way and that whatever has happened must happen.

Sound complicated? Imagine that your lover dies in a hit-and-run car accident, and you travel back in time to save her from her fate, only to find that on your way to the accident you are the one who accidentally runs her over. Your attempt to change the past has therefore resulted in a predestination paradox. One way of dealing with this type of paradox is to assume that the version of events you have experienced are already built into a self-consistent version of reality, and that by trying to alter the past you will only end up fulfilling your role in creating an event in history, not altering it.

– Cinema Treatment

In The Time Machine (2002) movie, for instance, Dr. Alexander Hartdegen witnesses his fiancee being killed by a mugger, leading him to build a time machine to travel back in time to save her from her fate. His subsequent attempts to save her fail, though, leading him to conclude that “I could come back a thousand times… and see her die a thousand ways.” After then traveling centuries into the future to see if a solution has been found to the temporal problem, Hartdegen is told by the Über-Morlock:

“You built your time machine because of Emma’s death. If she had lived, it would never have existed, so how could you use your machine to go back and save her? You are the inescapable result of your tragedy, just as I am the inescapable result of you .”

• Movies : Examples of predestination paradoxes in the movies include 12 Monkeys (1995), TimeCrimes (2007), The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009), and Predestination (2014).
• Books : An example of a predestination paradox in a book is Phoebe Fortune and the Pre-destination Paradox by M.S. Crook.

2: Bootstrap Paradox

A Bootstrap Paradox is a type of paradox in which an object, person, or piece of information sent back in time results in an infinite loop where the object has no discernible origin, and exists without ever being created. It is also known as an Ontological Paradox, as ontology is a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of being or existence.

– Information : George Lucas traveling back in time and giving himself the scripts for the Star War movies which he then goes on to direct and gain great fame for would create a bootstrap paradox involving information, as the scripts have no true point of creation or origin.

– Person : A bootstrap paradox involving a person could be, say, a 20-year-old male time traveler who goes back 21 years, meets a woman, has an affair, and returns home three months later without knowing the woman was pregnant. Her child grows up to be the 20-year-old time traveler, who travels back 21 years through time, meets a woman, and so on. American science fiction writer Robert Heinlein wrote a strange short story involving a sexual paradox in his 1959 classic “All You Zombies.”

These ontological paradoxes imply that the future, present, and past are not defined, thus giving scientists an obvious problem on how to then pinpoint the “origin” of anything, a word customarily referring to the past, but now rendered meaningless. Further questions arise as to how the object/data was created, and by whom. Nevertheless, Einstein’s field equations allow for the possibility of closed time loops, with Kip Thorne the first theoretical physicist to recognize traversable wormholes and backward time travel as being theoretically possible under certain conditions.

• Movies : Examples of bootstrap paradoxes in the movies include Somewhere in Time (1980), Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), the Terminator movies, and Time Lapse (2014). The Netflix series Dark (2017-19) also features a book called ‘A Journey Through Time’ which presents another classic example of a bootstrap paradox.
• Books : Examples of bootstrap paradoxes in books include Michael Moorcock’s ‘Behold The Man’, Tim Powers’ The Anubis Gates, and Heinlein’s “By His Bootstraps”

3: Grandfather Paradox

The Grandfather Paradox concerns ‘self-inconsistent solutions’ to a timeline’s history caused by traveling back in time. For example, if you traveled to the past and killed your grandfather, you would never have been born and would not have been able to travel to the past – a paradox.

Let’s say you did decide to kill your grandfather because he created a dynasty that ruined the world. You figure if you knock him off before he meets your grandmother then the whole family line (including you) will vanish and the world will be a better place. According to theoretical physicists, the situation could play out as follows:

– Timeline protection hypothesis: You pop back in time, walk up to him, and point a revolver at his head. You pull the trigger but the gun fails to fire. Click! Click! Click! The bullets in the chamber have dents in the firing caps. You point the gun elsewhere and pull the trigger. Bang! Point it at your grandfather.. Click! Click! Click! So you try another method to kill him, but that only leads to scars that in later life he attributed to the world’s worst mugger. You can do many things as long as they’re not fatal until you are chased off by a policeman.

– Multiple universes hypothesis: You pop back in time, walk up to him, and point a revolver at his head. You pull the trigger and Boom! The deed is done. You return to the “present,” but you never existed here. Everything about you has been erased, including your family, friends, home, possessions, bank account, and history. You’ve entered a timeline where you never existed. Scientists entertain the possibility that you have now created an alternate timeline or entered a parallel universe.

• Movies : Example of the Grandfather Paradox in movies include Back to the Future (1985), Back to the Future Part II (1989), and Back to the Future Part III (1990).
• Books : Example of the Grandfather Paradox in books include Dr. Quantum in the Grandfather Paradox by Fred Alan Wolf , The Grandfather Paradox by Steven Burgauer, and Future Times Three (1944) by René Barjavel, the very first treatment of a grandfather paradox in a novel.

4: Let’s Kill Hitler Paradox

Similar to the Grandfather Paradox which paradoxically prevents your own birth, the Killing Hitler paradox erases your own reason for going back in time to kill him. Furthermore, while killing Grandpa might have a limited “butterfly effect,” killing Hitler would have far-reaching consequences for everyone in the world, even if only for the fact you studied him in school.

The paradox itself arises from the idea that if you were successful, then there would be no reason to time travel in the first place. If you killed Hitler then none of his actions would trickle down through history and cause you to want to make the attempt.

• Movies/Shows : By far the best treatment for this notion occurred in a Twilight Zone episode called Cradle of Darkness which sums up the difficulties involved in trying to change history, with another being an episode of Dr Who called ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’.
• Books : Examples of the Let’s Kill Hitler Paradox in books include How to Kill Hitler: A Guide For Time Travelers by Andrew Stanek, and the graphic novel I Killed Adolf Hitler by Jason.

5: Polchinski’s Paradox

American theoretical physicist Joseph Polchinski proposed a time paradox scenario in which a billiard ball enters a wormhole, and emerges out the other end in the past just in time to collide with its younger version and stop it from going into the wormhole in the first place.

Polchinski’s paradox is taken seriously by physicists, as there is nothing in Einstein’s General Relativity to rule out the possibility of time travel, closed time-like curves (CTCs), or tunnels through space-time. Furthermore, it has the advantage of being based upon the laws of motion, without having to refer to the indeterministic concept of free will, and so presents a better research method for scientists to think about the paradox. When Joseph Polchinski proposed the paradox, he had Novikov’s Self-Consistency Principle in mind, which basically states that while time travel is possible, time paradoxes are forbidden.

However, a number of solutions have been formulated to avoid the inconsistencies Polchinski suggested, which essentially involves the billiard ball delivering a blow that changes its younger version’s course, but not enough to stop it from entering the wormhole. This solution is related to the ‘timeline-protection hypothesis’ which states that a probability distortion would occur in order to prevent a paradox from happening. This also helps explain why if you tried to time travel and murder your grandfather, something will always happen to make that impossible, thus preserving a consistent version of history.

• Books:  Paradoxes of Time Travel by Ryan Wasserman is a wide-ranging exploration of time and time travel, including Polchinski’s Paradox.

Are Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Paradoxes?

A self-fulfilling prophecy is only a causality loop when the prophecy is truly known to happen and events in the future cause effects in the past, otherwise the phenomenon is not so much a paradox as a case of cause and effect.  Say,  for instance, an authority figure states that something is inevitable, proper, and true, convincing everyone through persuasive style. People, completely convinced through rhetoric, begin to behave as if the prediction were already true, and consequently bring it about through their actions. This might be seen best by an example where someone convincingly states:

“High-speed Magnetic Levitation Trains will dominate as the best form of transportation from the 21st Century onward.”

Jet travel, relying on diminishing fuel supplies, will be reserved for ocean crossing, and local flights will be a thing of the past. People now start planning on building networks of high-speed trains that run on electricity. Infrastructure gears up to supply the needed parts and the prediction becomes true not because it was truly inevitable (though it is a smart idea), but because people behaved as if it were true.

It even works on a smaller scale – the scale of individuals. The basic methodology for all those “self-help” books out in the world is that if you modify your thinking that you are successful (money, career, dating, etc.), then with the strengthening of that belief you start to behave like a successful person. People begin to notice and start to treat you like a successful person; it is a reinforcement/feedback loop and you actually become successful by behaving as if you were.

Are Time Paradoxes Inevitable?

The Butterfly Effect is a reference to Chaos Theory where seemingly trivial changes can have huge cascade reactions over long periods of time. Consequently, the Timeline corruption hypothesis states that time paradoxes are an unavoidable consequence of time travel, and even insignificant changes may be enough to alter history completely.

In one story, a paleontologist, with the help of a time travel device, travels back to the Jurassic Period to get photographs of Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Ceratosaurus, and Allosaurus amongst other dinosaurs. He knows he can’t take samples so he just takes magnificent pictures from the fixed platform that is positioned precisely to not change anything about the environment. His assistant is about to pick a long blade of grass, but he stops him and explains how nothing must change because of their presence. They finish what they are doing and return to the present, but everything is gone. They reappear in a wild world with no humans and no signs that they ever existed. They fall to the floor of their platform, the only man-made thing in the whole world, and lament “Why? We didn’t change anything!” And there on the heel of the scientist’s shoe is a crushed butterfly.

The Butterfly Effect is also a movie, starring Ashton Kutcher as Evan Treborn and Amy Smart as Kayleigh Miller, where a troubled man has had blackouts during his youth, later explained by him traveling back into his own past and taking charge of his younger body briefly. The movie explores the issue of changing the timeline and how unintended consequences can propagate.

Scientists eager to avoid the paradoxes presented by time travel have come up with a number of ingenious ways in which to present a more consistent version of reality, some of which have been touched upon here,  including:

• The Solution: time travel is impossible because of the very paradox it creates.
• Self-healing hypothesis: successfully altering events in the past will set off another set of events which will cause the present to remain the same.
• The Multiverse or “many-worlds” hypothesis: an alternate parallel universe or timeline is created each time an event is altered in the past.
• Erased timeline hypothesis : a person traveling to the past would exist in the new timeline, but have their own timeline erased.

Related Posts

© Copyright 2023 Astronomy Trek

Time travel could be possible, but only with parallel timelines

Assistant Professor, Physics, Brock University

Disclosure statement

Barak Shoshany does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Brock University provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

Brock University provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA.

View all partners

Have you ever made a mistake that you wish you could undo? Correcting past mistakes is one of the reasons we find the concept of time travel so fascinating. As often portrayed in science fiction, with a time machine, nothing is permanent anymore — you can always go back and change it. But is time travel really possible in our universe , or is it just science fiction?

Read more: Curious Kids: is time travel possible for humans?

Our modern understanding of time and causality comes from general relativity . Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein’s theory combines space and time into a single entity — “spacetime” — and provides a remarkably intricate explanation of how they both work, at a level unmatched by any other established theory. This theory has existed for more than 100 years, and has been experimentally verified to extremely high precision, so physicists are fairly certain it provides an accurate description of the causal structure of our universe.

For decades, physicists have been trying to use general relativity to figure out if time travel is possible . It turns out that you can write down equations that describe time travel and are fully compatible and consistent with relativity. But physics is not mathematics, and equations are meaningless if they do not correspond to anything in reality.

Arguments against time travel

There are two main issues which make us think these equations may be unrealistic. The first issue is a practical one: building a time machine seems to require exotic matter , which is matter with negative energy. All the matter we see in our daily lives has positive energy — matter with negative energy is not something you can just find lying around. From quantum mechanics, we know that such matter can theoretically be created, but in too small quantities and for too short times .

However, there is no proof that it is impossible to create exotic matter in sufficient quantities. Furthermore, other equations may be discovered that allow time travel without requiring exotic matter. Therefore, this issue may just be a limitation of our current technology or understanding of quantum mechanics.

The other main issue is less practical, but more significant: it is the observation that time travel seems to contradict logic, in the form of time travel paradoxes . There are several types of such paradoxes, but the most problematic are consistency paradoxes .

A popular trope in science fiction, consistency paradoxes happen whenever there is a certain event that leads to changing the past, but the change itself prevents this event from happening in the first place.

For example, consider a scenario where I enter my time machine, use it to go back in time five minutes, and destroy the machine as soon as I get to the past. Now that I destroyed the time machine, it would be impossible for me to use it five minutes later.

But if I cannot use the time machine, then I cannot go back in time and destroy it. Therefore, it is not destroyed, so I can go back in time and destroy it. In other words, the time machine is destroyed if and only if it is not destroyed. Since it cannot be both destroyed and not destroyed simultaneously, this scenario is inconsistent and paradoxical.

Eliminating the paradoxes

There’s a common misconception in science fiction that paradoxes can be “created.” Time travellers are usually warned not to make significant changes to the past and to avoid meeting their past selves for this exact reason. Examples of this may be found in many time travel movies, such as the Back to the Future trilogy.

But in physics, a paradox is not an event that can actually happen — it is a purely theoretical concept that points towards an inconsistency in the theory itself. In other words, consistency paradoxes don’t merely imply time travel is a dangerous endeavour, they imply it simply cannot be possible.

This was one of the motivations for theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking to formulate his chronology protection conjecture , which states that time travel should be impossible. However, this conjecture so far remains unproven. Furthermore, the universe would be a much more interesting place if instead of eliminating time travel due to paradoxes, we could just eliminate the paradoxes themselves.

One attempt at resolving time travel paradoxes is theoretical physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov’s self-consistency conjecture , which essentially states that you can travel to the past, but you cannot change it.

According to Novikov, if I tried to destroy my time machine five minutes in the past, I would find that it is impossible to do so. The laws of physics would somehow conspire to preserve consistency.

Introducing multiple histories

But what’s the point of going back in time if you cannot change the past? My recent work, together with my students Jacob Hauser and Jared Wogan, shows that there are time travel paradoxes that Novikov’s conjecture cannot resolve. This takes us back to square one, since if even just one paradox cannot be eliminated, time travel remains logically impossible.

So, is this the final nail in the coffin of time travel? Not quite. We showed that allowing for multiple histories (or in more familiar terms, parallel timelines) can resolve the paradoxes that Novikov’s conjecture cannot. In fact, it can resolve any paradox you throw at it.

The idea is very simple. When I exit the time machine, I exit into a different timeline. In that timeline, I can do whatever I want, including destroying the time machine, without changing anything in the original timeline I came from. Since I cannot destroy the time machine in the original timeline, which is the one I actually used to travel back in time, there is no paradox.

After working on time travel paradoxes for the last three years , I have become increasingly convinced that time travel could be possible, but only if our universe can allow multiple histories to coexist. So, can it?

Quantum mechanics certainly seems to imply so, at least if you subscribe to Everett’s “many-worlds” interpretation , where one history can “split” into multiple histories, one for each possible measurement outcome – for example, whether Schrödinger’s cat is alive or dead, or whether or not I arrived in the past.

But these are just speculations. My students and I are currently working on finding a concrete theory of time travel with multiple histories that is fully compatible with general relativity. Of course, even if we manage to find such a theory, this would not be sufficient to prove that time travel is possible, but it would at least mean that time travel is not ruled out by consistency paradoxes.

Time travel and parallel timelines almost always go hand-in-hand in science fiction, but now we have proof that they must go hand-in-hand in real science as well. General relativity and quantum mechanics tell us that time travel might be possible, but if it is, then multiple histories must also be possible.

• Time travel
• Theoretical physics
• Time machine
• Albert Einstein
• Listen to this article
• Time travel paradox

Research Fellow in High Impact Weather under Climate Change

Director, Defence and Security

Opportunities with the new CIEHF

School of Social Sciences – Public Policy and International Relations opportunities

Deputy Editor - Technology

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

• LISTEN & FOLLOW
• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Amazon Music
• Amazon Alexa

Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.

Paradox-Free Time Travel Is Theoretically Possible, Researchers Say

Matthew S. Schwartz

A dog dressed as Marty McFly from Back to the Future attends the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in 2015. New research says time travel might be possible without the problems McFly encountered. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A dog dressed as Marty McFly from Back to the Future attends the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in 2015. New research says time travel might be possible without the problems McFly encountered.

"The past is obdurate," Stephen King wrote in his book about a man who goes back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination. "It doesn't want to be changed."

Turns out, King might have been on to something.

Countless science fiction tales have explored the paradox of what would happen if you went back in time and did something in the past that endangered the future. Perhaps one of the most famous pop culture examples is in Back to the Future , when Marty McFly goes back in time and accidentally stops his parents from meeting, putting his own existence in jeopardy.

But maybe McFly wasn't in much danger after all. According a new paper from researchers at the University of Queensland, even if time travel were possible, the paradox couldn't actually exist.

Researchers ran the numbers and determined that even if you made a change in the past, the timeline would essentially self-correct, ensuring that whatever happened to send you back in time would still happen.

"Say you traveled in time in an attempt to stop COVID-19's patient zero from being exposed to the virus," University of Queensland scientist Fabio Costa told the university's news service .

"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," said Costa, who co-authored the paper with honors undergraduate student Germain Tobar.

"This is a paradox — an inconsistency that often leads people to think that time travel cannot occur in our universe."

A variation is known as the "grandfather paradox" — in which a time traveler kills their own grandfather, in the process preventing the time traveler's birth.

The logical paradox has given researchers a headache, in part because according to Einstein's theory of general relativity, "closed timelike curves" are possible, theoretically allowing an observer to travel back in time and interact with their past self — potentially endangering their own existence.

But these researchers say that such a paradox wouldn't necessarily exist, because events would adjust themselves.

Take the coronavirus patient zero example. "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," Tobar told the university's news service.

In other words, a time traveler could make changes, but the original outcome would still find a way to happen — maybe not the same way it happened in the first timeline but close enough so that the time traveler would still exist and would still be motivated to go back in time.

"No matter what you did, the salient events would just recalibrate around you," Tobar said.

The paper, "Reversible dynamics with closed time-like curves and freedom of choice," was published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Classical and Quantum Gravity . The findings seem consistent with another time travel study published this summer in the peer-reviewed journal Physical Review Letters. That study found that changes made in the past won't drastically alter the future.

Bestselling science fiction author Blake Crouch, who has written extensively about time travel, said the new study seems to support what certain time travel tropes have posited all along.

"The universe is deterministic and attempts to alter Past Event X are destined to be the forces which bring Past Event X into being," Crouch told NPR via email. "So the future can affect the past. Or maybe time is just an illusion. But I guess it's cool that the math checks out."

• grandfather paradox
• time travel

Time travel is theoretically possible, calculations show. But that doesn't mean you could change the past.

• Time travel is possible based on the laws of physics, according to researchers.
• But time-travelers wouldn't be able to alter the past in a measurable way, they say. 
• And the future would essentially stay the same, according to the reseachers. 

Imagine you could hop into a time machine, press a button, and journey back to 2019, before the novel coronavirus made the leap from animals to humans.  

What if you could find and isolate patient zero? Theoretically, the COVID-19 pandemic wouldn't happen, right? 

Not quite, because then future-you wouldn't have decided to time travel in the first place.

For decades, physicists have been studying and debating versions of this paradox: If we could travel back in time and change the past, what would happen to the future?

A 2020 study offered a potential answer: Nothing.

"Events readjust around anything that could cause a paradox, so the paradox does not happen," Germain Tobar, the study's author previously told IFLScience .

Tobar's work, published in the peer-reviewed journal Classical and Quantum Gravity in September 2020, suggests that according to the rules of theoretical physics, anything you tried to change in the past would be corrected by subsequent events.

Related stories

Put simply: It's theoretically possible to go back in time, but you couldn't change history.

The grandfather paradox

Physicists have considered time travel to be theoretically possible since Albert Einstein came up with his theory of relativity. Einstein's calculations suggest it's possible for an object in our universe to travel through space and time in a circular direction, eventually ending up at a point on its journey where it's been before – a path called a closed time-like curve.

Still, physicists continue to struggle with scenarios like the coronavirus example above, in which time-travelers alter events that already happened. The most famous example is known as the grandfather paradox: Say a time-traveler goes back to the past and kills a younger version of his or her grandfather. The grandfather then wouldn't have any children, erasing the time-traveler's parents and, of course, the time-traveler, too. But then who would kill Grandpa?

A take on this paradox appears in the movie "Back to the Future," when Marty McFly almost stops his parents from meeting in the past – potentially causing himself to disappear. 

To address the paradox, Tobar and his supervisor, Dr. Fabio Costa, used the "billiard-ball model," which imagines cause and effect as a series of colliding billiard balls, and a circular pool table as a closed time-like curve.

Imagine a bunch of billiard balls laid out across that circular table. If you push one ball from position X, it bangs around the table, hitting others in a particular pattern. 

The researchers calculated that even if you mess with the ball's pattern at some point in its journey, future interactions with other balls can correct its path, leading it to come back to the same position and speed that it would have had you not interfered.

"Regardless of the choice, the ball will fall into the same place," Dr Yasunori Nomura, a theoretical physicist at UC Berkeley, previously told Insider.

Tobar's model, in other words, says you could travel back in time, but you couldn't change how events unfolded significantly enough to alter the future, Nomura said. Applied to the grandfather paradox, then, this would mean that something would always get in the way of your attempt to kill your grandfather. Or at least by the time he did die, your grandmother would already be pregnant with your mother. 

Back to the coronavirus example. Let's say you were to travel back to 2019 and intervene in patient zero's life. According to Tobar's line of thinking, the pandemic would still happen somehow.

"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," Tobar said, according to Australia's University of Queensland , where Tobar graduated from. 

Nomura said that although the model is too simple to represent the full range of cause and effect in our universe, it's a good starting point for future physicists.  

Watch: There are 2 types of time travel and physicists agree that one of them is possible

• Main content

• Newsletters

Time travel: five ways that we could do it

Cathal O’Connell

Cathal O'Connell is a science writer based in Melbourne.

In 2009 the British physicist Stephen Hawking held a party for time travellers – the twist was he sent out the invites a year later (No guests showed up). Time travel is probably impossible. Even if it were possible, Hawking and others have argued that you could never travel back before the moment your time machine was built.

But travel to the future? That’s a different story.

Of course, we are all time travellers as we are swept along in the current of time, from past to future, at a rate of one hour per hour.

But, as with a river, the current flows at different speeds in different places. Science as we know it allows for several methods to take the fast-track into the future. Here’s a rundown.

1. Time travel via speed

This is the easiest and most practical way to time travel into the far future – go really fast.

According to Einstein’s theory of special relativity, when you travel at speeds approaching the speed of light, time slows down for you relative to the outside world.

This is not a just a conjecture or thought experiment – it’s been measured. Using twin atomic clocks (one flown in a jet aircraft, the other stationary on Earth) physicists have shown that a flying clock ticks slower, because of its speed.

In the case of the aircraft, the effect is minuscule. But If you were in a spaceship travelling at 90% of the speed of light, you’d experience time passing about 2.6 times slower than it was back on Earth.

And the closer you get to the speed of light, the more extreme the time-travel.

Computer solves a major time travel problem

The highest speeds achieved through any human technology are probably the protons whizzing around the Large Hadron Collider at 99.9999991% of the speed of light. Using special relativity we can calculate one second for the proton is equivalent to 27,777,778 seconds, or about 11 months , for us.

Amazingly, particle physicists have to take this time dilation into account when they are dealing with particles that decay. In the lab, muon particles typically decay in 2.2 microseconds. But fast moving muons, such as those created when cosmic rays strike the upper atmosphere, take 10 times longer to disintegrate.

2. Time travel via gravity

The next method of time travel is also inspired by Einstein. According to his theory of general relativity, the stronger the gravity you feel, the slower time moves.

As you get closer to the centre of the Earth, for example, the strength of gravity increases. Time runs slower for your feet than your head.

Again, this effect has been measured. In 2010, physicists at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) placed two atomic clocks on shelves, one 33 centimetres above the other, and measured the difference in their rate of ticking. The lower one ticked slower because it feels a slightly stronger gravity.

To travel to the far future, all we need is a region of extremely strong gravity, such as a black hole. The closer you get to the event horizon, the slower time moves – but it’s risky business, cross the boundary and you can never escape.

And anyway, the effect is not that strong so it’s probably not worth the trip.

Assuming you had the technology to travel the vast distances to reach a black hole (the nearest is about 3,000 light years away), the time dilation through travelling would be far greater than any time dilation through orbiting the black hole itself.

(The situation described in the movie Interstellar , where one hour on a planet near a black hole is the equivalent of seven years back on Earth, is so extreme as to be impossible in our Universe, according to Kip Thorne, the movie’s scientific advisor.)

The most mindblowing thing, perhaps, is that GPS systems have to account for time dilation effects (due to both the speed of the satellites and gravity they feel) in order to work. Without these corrections, your phones GPS capability wouldn’t be able to pinpoint your location on Earth to within even a few kilometres.

3. Time travel via suspended animation

Another way to time travel to the future may be to slow your perception of time by slowing down, or stopping, your bodily processes and then restarting them later.

Bacterial spores can live for millions of years in a state of suspended animation, until the right conditions of temperature, moisture, food kick start their metabolisms again. Some mammals, such as bears and squirrels, can slow down their metabolism during hibernation, dramatically reducing their cells’ requirement for food and oxygen.

Could humans ever do the same?

Though completely stopping your metabolism is probably far beyond our current technology, some scientists are working towards achieving inducing a short-term hibernation state lasting at least a few hours. This might be just enough time to get a person through a medical emergency, such as a cardiac arrest, before they can reach the hospital.

In 2005, American scientists demonstrated a way to slow the metabolism of mice (which do not hibernate) by exposing them to minute doses of hydrogen sulphide, which binds to the same cell receptors as oxygen. The core body temperature of the mice dropped to 13 °C and metabolism decreased 10-fold. After six hours the mice could be reanimated without ill effects.

Unfortunately, similar experiments on sheep and pigs were not successful, suggesting the method might not work for larger animals.

Another method, which induces a hypothermic hibernation by replacing the blood with a cold saline solution, has worked on pigs and is currently undergoing human clinical trials in Pittsburgh.

4. Time travel via wormholes

General relativity also allows for the possibility for shortcuts through spacetime, known as wormholes, which might be able to bridge distances of a billion light years or more, or different points in time.

Many physicists, including Stephen Hawking, believe wormholes are constantly popping in and out of existence at the quantum scale, far smaller than atoms. The trick would be to capture one, and inflate it to human scales – a feat that would require a huge amount of energy, but which might just be possible, in theory.

Attempts to prove this either way have failed, ultimately because of the incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics.

5. Time travel using light

Another time travel idea, put forward by the American physicist Ron Mallet, is to use a rotating cylinder of light to twist spacetime. Anything dropped inside the swirling cylinder could theoretically be dragged around in space and in time, in a similar way to how a bubble runs around on top your coffee after you swirl it with a spoon.

According to Mallet, the right geometry could lead to time travel into either the past and the future.

Since publishing his theory in 2000, Mallet has been trying to raise the funds to pay for a proof of concept experiment, which involves dropping neutrons through a circular arrangement of spinning lasers.

His ideas have not grabbed the rest of the physics community however, with others arguing that one of the assumptions of his basic model is plagued by a singularity, which is physics-speak for “it’s impossible”.

The Royal Institution of Australia has an Education resource based on this article. You can access it here .

Related Reading: Computer solves a major time travel problem

Originally published by Cosmos as Time travel: five ways that we could do it

Please login to favourite this article.

A beginner's guide to time travel

Learn exactly how Einstein's theory of relativity works, and discover how there's nothing in science that says time travel is impossible.

Everyone can travel in time . You do it whether you want to or not, at a steady rate of one second per second. You may think there's no similarity to traveling in one of the three spatial dimensions at, say, one foot per second. But according to Einstein 's theory of relativity , we live in a four-dimensional continuum — space-time — in which space and time are interchangeable.

Einstein found that the faster you move through space, the slower you move through time — you age more slowly, in other words. One of the key ideas in relativity is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light — about 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometers per second), or one light-year per year). But you can get very close to it. If a spaceship were to fly at 99% of the speed of light, you'd see it travel a light-year of distance in just over a year of time. 

That's obvious enough, but now comes the weird part. For astronauts onboard that spaceship, the journey would take a mere seven weeks. It's a consequence of relativity called time dilation , and in effect, it means the astronauts have jumped about 10 months into the future. 

Traveling at high speed isn't the only way to produce time dilation. Einstein showed that gravitational fields produce a similar effect — even the relatively weak field here on the surface of Earth . We don't notice it, because we spend all our lives here, but more than 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers) higher up gravity is measurably weaker— and time passes more quickly, by about 45 microseconds per day. That's more significant than you might think, because it's the altitude at which GPS satellites orbit Earth, and their clocks need to be precisely synchronized with ground-based ones for the system to work properly. 

The satellites have to compensate for time dilation effects due both to their higher altitude and their faster speed. So whenever you use the GPS feature on your smartphone or your car's satnav, there's a tiny element of time travel involved. You and the satellites are traveling into the future at very slightly different rates.

But for more dramatic effects, we need to look at much stronger gravitational fields, such as those around black holes , which can distort space-time so much that it folds back on itself. The result is a so-called wormhole, a concept that's familiar from sci-fi movies, but actually originates in Einstein's theory of relativity. In effect, a wormhole is a shortcut from one point in space-time to another. You enter one black hole, and emerge from another one somewhere else. Unfortunately, it's not as practical a means of transport as Hollywood makes it look. That's because the black hole's gravity would tear you to pieces as you approached it, but it really is possible in theory. And because we're talking about space-time, not just space, the wormhole's exit could be at an earlier time than its entrance; that means you would end up in the past rather than the future.

Trajectories in space-time that loop back into the past are given the technical name "closed timelike curves." If you search through serious academic journals, you'll find plenty of references to them — far more than you'll find to "time travel." But in effect, that's exactly what closed timelike curves are all about — time travel

This article is brought to you by  How It Works .

How It Works is the action-packed magazine that's bursting with exciting information about the latest advances in science and technology, featuring everything you need to know about how the world around you — and the universe — works.

There's another way to produce a closed timelike curve that doesn't involve anything quite so exotic as a black hole or wormhole: You just need a simple rotating cylinder made of super-dense material. This so-called Tipler cylinder is the closest that real-world physics can get to an actual, genuine time machine. But it will likely never be built in the real world, so like a wormhole, it's more of an academic curiosity than a viable engineering design.

Yet as far-fetched as these things are in practical terms, there's no fundamental scientific reason — that we currently know of — that says they are impossible. That's a thought-provoking situation, because as the physicist Michio Kaku is fond of saying, "Everything not forbidden is compulsory" (borrowed from T.H. White's novel, "The Once And Future King"). He doesn't mean time travel has to happen everywhere all the time, but Kaku is suggesting that the universe is so vast it ought to happen somewhere at least occasionally. Maybe some super-advanced civilization in another galaxy knows how to build a working time machine, or perhaps closed timelike curves can even occur naturally under certain rare conditions.

This raises problems of a different kind — not in science or engineering, but in basic logic. If time travel is allowed by the laws of physics, then it's possible to envision a whole range of paradoxical scenarios . Some of these appear so illogical that it's difficult to imagine that they could ever occur. But if they can't, what's stopping them? 

Thoughts like these prompted Stephen Hawking , who was always skeptical about the idea of time travel into the past, to come up with his "chronology protection conjecture" — the notion that some as-yet-unknown law of physics prevents closed timelike curves from happening. But that conjecture is only an educated guess, and until it is supported by hard evidence, we can come to only one conclusion: Time travel is possible.

A party for time travelers 

Hawking was skeptical about the feasibility of time travel into the past, not because he had disproved it, but because he was bothered by the logical paradoxes it created. In his chronology protection conjecture, he surmised that physicists would eventually discover a flaw in the theory of closed timelike curves that made them impossible. 

In 2009, he came up with an amusing way to test this conjecture. Hawking held a champagne party (shown in his Discovery Channel program), but he only advertised it after it had happened. His reasoning was that, if time machines eventually become practical, someone in the future might read about the party and travel back to attend it. But no one did — Hawking sat through the whole evening on his own. This doesn't prove time travel is impossible, but it does suggest that it never becomes a commonplace occurrence here on Earth.

The arrow of time 

One of the distinctive things about time is that it has a direction — from past to future. A cup of hot coffee left at room temperature always cools down; it never heats up. Your cellphone loses battery charge when you use it; it never gains charge. These are examples of entropy , essentially a measure of the amount of "useless" as opposed to "useful" energy. The entropy of a closed system always increases, and it's the key factor determining the arrow of time.

It turns out that entropy is the only thing that makes a distinction between past and future. In other branches of physics, like relativity or quantum theory, time doesn't have a preferred direction. No one knows where time's arrow comes from. It may be that it only applies to large, complex systems, in which case subatomic particles may not experience the arrow of time.

Time travel paradox 

If it's possible to travel back into the past — even theoretically — it raises a number of brain-twisting paradoxes — such as the grandfather paradox — that even scientists and philosophers find extremely perplexing.

Killing Hitler

A time traveler might decide to go back and kill him in his infancy. If they succeeded, future history books wouldn't even mention Hitler — so what motivation would the time traveler have for going back in time and killing him?

Killing your grandfather

Instead of killing a young Hitler, you might, by accident, kill one of your own ancestors when they were very young. But then you would never be born, so you couldn't travel back in time to kill them, so you would be born after all, and so on … 

A closed loop

Suppose the plans for a time machine suddenly appear from thin air on your desk. You spend a few days building it, then use it to send the plans back to your earlier self. But where did those plans originate? Nowhere — they are just looping round and round in time.

Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now

Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

Andrew May holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Manchester University, U.K. For 30 years, he worked in the academic, government and private sectors, before becoming a science writer where he has written for Fortean Times, How It Works, All About Space, BBC Science Focus, among others. He has also written a selection of books including Cosmic Impact and Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe, published by Icon Books.

James Webb telescope to zoom in on Uranus and Saturn in study of mysterious auroras

13 billion-year-old 'streams of stars' discovered near Milky Way's center may be earliest building blocks of our galaxy

'We don't yet have the know-how to properly maintain a corpse brain': Why cryonics is a non-starter in our quest for immortality

Most Popular

By Anna Gora December 27, 2023

By Anna Gora December 26, 2023

By Anna Gora December 25, 2023

By Emily Cooke December 23, 2023

By Victoria Atkinson December 22, 2023

By Anna Gora December 16, 2023

By Anna Gora December 15, 2023

By Anna Gora November 09, 2023

By Donavyn Coffey November 06, 2023

By Anna Gora October 31, 2023

By Anna Gora October 26, 2023

• 2 Mass grave of plague victims may be largest ever found in Europe, archaeologists say
• 3 India's evolutionary past tied to huge migration 50,000 years ago and to now-extinct human relatives
• 4 1,900-year-old coins from Jewish revolt against the Romans discovered in the Judaen desert
• 5 Dying SpaceX rocket creates glowing, galaxy-like spiral in the middle of the Northern Lights
• 2 Speck of light spotted by Hubble is one of the most enormous galaxies in the early universe, James Webb telescope reveals
• 3 8-hour intermittent fasting tied to 90% higher risk of cardiovascular death, early data hint
• 4 James Webb telescope confirms there is something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe
• 5 Beluga whales appear to change the shape of their melon heads to communicate, scientists discover

Matador Original Series

10 Key Destinations For The Historical Time Traveler

Two hundred years ago a traveler had to wait months to traverse oceans. We now have the means to wake up in New York and fall asleep in Sydney, all in the same day.

The trend: travel is becoming exponentially more accessible to the common man.

But the tradeoff is that culture and history are being lost. Remote islanders maintain their outdated tribal customs merely to get a buck from the nearest walking wallet with a camera. Cities that in ancient times were considered quaint and romantic have become nothing more than identical concrete jungles.

We’re losing the remnants of human history with each passing day – why not find a means to time travel for leisure? Where would you go if you had a weekend in any city in any century?

1. Rome, Height of the Empire

No one in living memory has ever really seen the Colosseum. Whatever your religious beliefs, there used to be gods in that city; watching over the empire from their marbled countenance, and ensuring trade on one of the first greatest centers of business in the western world: the Roman Forum.

Imagine being able to walk down the epitome of civilization; they didn’t call the period after Christianity spread and the empire fell The Dark Ages for no good reason. ..

2. Kyoto, 16th Century

In the 1500’s, Kyoto served as the national capital and home to the imperial family. Tokyo (then Edo) was little more than a fishing village at this time, not yet placed on the map by the empowering of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

In modern times, many travelers journey to Kyoto to discover only remnants of what was once one of the most beautiful and mystical places on the planet. Back in its heyday, this Japanese city would have been the richest and most populated next to Osaka.

The predecessors to geisha gently walking in their kimonos, made from imported Chinese silk; visions of the mountains to the north and east not yet lost in a sea of grey; everything under ten meters high.

The only downside? Not much fresh fish or sushi: transporting the latest catch from Osaka to Kyoto took a while to perfect, and sushi was still in its infancy.

3. United States, The Old West

Back to the Future had the right idea – many people at one point imagine themselves as a cowboy or cowgirl.

What would you give to be riding on horseback on a cool summer morning in the undeveloped expanse of the western territories? Nothing for hundreds of miles in any direction, except perhaps the whistle of a steam locomotive and wandering tribes of Native Americans.

Of course, if you go back far enough in history, any land can be considered unexplored or undiscovered, but there’s a certain romantic connotation that stirs up when thinking about the American movement to the west.

It’s the promise of the unknown – traveling towards the Pacific, having uprooted everything stable, everything civilized in the east, and seeing where the Oregon Trail took you.

4. Ancient Egypt, c. 2500 BC

Watch the building of the pyramids and learn more about archaeoastronomy – skylights in the pyramids were carved so that certain constellations could be viewed at a set time of year.

Even the great structures themselves were arranged on the sand corresponding to the placement of three stars overhead. Discover the meaning of the Great Sphinx – who knows why it was built? Maybe some pharaoh just had a mutant pet.

Cairo will surely be hot and dry during this period in history, so remember to pack light loose-fitting clothing and plenty of sunscreen. If you wait around for another five hundred years, you might catch the finishing touches on Deir el Bahri .

5. London, 14th Century

“…the truth was that the modern world was invented in the Middle Ages. Everything from the legal system, to nation-states, to reliance on technology, to the concept of romantic love had first been established in medieval times.” – Timeline, Michael Crichton

Everyone wants to be a knight in shining armor or a princess fair and true. Chivalry isn’t dead. In fact, if you choose to travel to London roughly seven hundred years ago, you’ll find it quite alive and well.

A walking tour of this city will let you face the first real London Bridge, providing the only access across the Thames. Canterbury Tales by Chaucer paints a rather vivid picture of this era. Many of the buildings in London we associate with medieval times were already in place: The Tower of London, Westminster Hall, Westminster Abbey.

Remember to apply insect repellant liberally, as the Black Death was known to pass through Britain and France in this century.

6. Chang’an, Han Dynasty

The origin of The Silk Road and a golden age in Chinese history, when Confucian principles laid down the foundation for society and Buddhism was just beginning to spread. Travel west along this trade route and in a matter of months, you’ll reach the Roman Empire.

7. Chichen Itza, 5th century

Although you may not be in a temple of doom, it’s wise to heed the words of Indiana Jones and “protect your heart!” As one of the largest Mayan cities on the Yucatan Peninsula, Chichen Itza was the site of human sacrifices.

It’s true that quite a few of the largest temples are very well preserved in modern Mexico, but I challenge you to find another time or place in which ancient games that could rival basketball were played. Best to arrive before the Toltec siege.

8. India, c. 600 BC

The Buddha had about forty-five good years of teaching from the time of his reaching enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree to his death. Don’t waste them. Meeting the Awakened One and learning the dhamma firsthand would be an experience for which almost anyone in Asia would trade his or her life. Try and eliminate the suffering in your heart before your departure…

9. New York City, Roaring 20’s

By the time the 1920’s dawned in New York City, the modern version of a cityscape was already formed: Macy’s department stores, the public library, Grand Central Terminal, and the then world’s tallest Woolworth Building.

Unfortunately construction on the Empire State Building won’t commence until after the crash of ’29, but take advantage of this period in history with your choice of taxicabs or horse drawn carriages. Watch Lindbergh start his journey across the Atlantic. Gaze at the audience of women in hoop skirts and men in all too stiff and uncomfortable suits.

10. Babylon, c. 600 BC

One of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the hanging gardens of Babylon. As one of the first empires in human history, Babylon was built in the shadow of ancient Sumeria near the Euphrates River, and may have even been the source of the legendary Tower of Babel with its own Temple of Marduk.

I’m sure there are many asking “Why not see some dinosaurs?” Think a little practically in this impractical form of travel and question if you’d prefer camping in the late Cretaceous (and being trampled to death), or blending with the masses and observing the election of a Roman consul firsthand.

Besides, if a Tyrannosaur doesn’t get you, the meteor will later on.

Community Connection

You’ve been to the past, now meet travelers that we still remember tale. Read 10 Travelers and Why Their Tales Made History . Also, what other trends might we see in the future of travel? Check out 6 Predictions For the Future Of Travel .

Where and when would you go if you had a ticket guaranteeing a weekend of fun in any place at any time?

Trending Now

Chicago’s soaring new attraction takes you flying over the windy city, discover matador, adventure travel, train travel, national parks, beaches and islands, ski and snow.

Time Travel For Events

If you read time travel for events, and your mind immediately went to  Back To The Future… not quite. You already know that here at Endless, we’re all for giving you the latest tips and tricks on events. And you know that when it comes to the Event Tech Podcast, technology is the magic word! Every week, we get to the nitty and gritty of the tech that is shaping our industry. But today, we’re doing things a little differently – think of it as a thought experiment.

How many times in your life have you wondered what you would do if time travel was possible? What you’d visit, where you’d go? And be honest now! We know everyone has considered it at least once in their lives. So this week, our hosts Will Curran and Brandt Krueger decided to pick up on this curious notion. What would happen if time travel for events existed? How would this shape the industry? What would be new, and what would remain the same? If you’re excited for this meta episode of Event Tech, then waste no more time – press play and let’s time travel!

Click here for the full audio transcription.

Time Travel For Events: The Travel

“What would the future of the events industry look like if you had a time machine and ability to not only go forward in time but also backward in time?”, is Will’s first question. Let’s admit, the how’s and the why’s of time traveling is still quite the mystery.

Going Forward

Brandt has been doing his research on this subject: “It actually is a fairly thorough article in response talking about how if you’re able to approach the speed of light, basically what happens for you is time slows down. Time goes faster everywhere else relative to you. So going forward in time, at least in theory as far as we know it, is absolutely possible. If you can get going fast enough and approach the speed of light, at least as far as the way we know how to do it, everything’s going to slow down so you could travel 10,000 years into the future and only age one year during your journey. So getting there actually wouldn’t be too hard. Now getting back is where things start to get complicated because we don’t know how the math and the physics would work going backward in time”. Tricky, indeed!

“There does seem to be some relationships between gravity and time and things like that, so as you start getting into these really deep areas of physics and space is where things start to get a little weird when it comes to time”.

Time Travel For Events: Interesting Speakers

“This is one of the thoughts that I had is that if for example, we had the ability to time travel and go back in time or in the future and let’s say bring people into the future or things like that”, begins Will. “Imagine, right now we’re limited to the number of people keynoting at events is really who’s alive right now and who you’re able to get. But imagine all of a sudden that was off limits. Instead of having a history convention where you had some guy talking about Abraham Lincoln’s life, what if you could go back in time, get Abraham Lincoln, and bring them to do your keynote. I mean, that might disrupt time or something like that, I don’t know, but basically, you’d have so many more potential speakers”. That sounds exciting!

Consequences?

Brandt puts forward some of the dangers attached to this: “I think we have to, if we’re going to have this discussion, we have to touch on some of the possible problems that can occur with the technology like this. That’s when you start talking about the catastrophic outcomes of future tech”. For example, “what happens if you do go back in time and borrow Abraham Lincoln so that he comes forward and gives a speech at our convention and then you put him back?”.

“I think, especially with this type of technology that has the power to potentially erase the present, we’d have to be moving very, very carefully to try something very, very, very, very small and hope that there’s not a butterfly effect. So if somebody was able to come up with the technology to go back in time, we’d have to try something small and just see if there are any effects… plant a flower, something, just to make sure nothing explodes or what actually happens in the timeline. Does it create an alternate timeline? Does our timelines still exist? And now there’s been a fork where in some alternate universe, Abraham Lincoln now knows that we have meetings and conventions and knows what an audience microphone is and things like that. You know, you’d want Q&A”.

Moral Dilemmas

“What happens when you bring someone forward in time and then basically you’re putting them back to die, especially someone whose life was ended early. So yeah, great, we can bring Abe Lincoln forward. Maybe we should keep him? Those kinds of questions start to come up because there was still important work to be done back there”.

Time Travel For Events: Best. After Party. Ever.

“We talk about how much of our events are all themed and they’re all around the nostalgia, right? There’s a lot of arguments going on that they think like, for example, the ’90s will be the last year of nostalgia and things like that. But if you have time travel nostalgia doesn’t exist because if you want to experience, for example, let’s look at the number one most overrated done party theme, which is Great Gatsby, right? Oh, we want to feel like it’s in the 1920s blah blah blah. Imagine if instead of feeling like you’re in the 1920s the after party took a time travel machine and you got to go the 1920s and the happy hour was in the 1920s”. Can you imagine someone who wouldn’t be up for that?

How Cool Is Too Cool?

Brandt comes up with an interesting question: “I wonder if, Will, people would start to realize that our nostalgic parties are actually more fun than the parties that were going on at the time. You know, our stylized versions of parties when we talk about having a ’20s party or something like that. Would people suddenly realize, eww, you know what, I’d rather just go to my local hotel ballroom and have a ’20s party as opposed to actually because I’ve got better plumbing”.

I’d Like To Reserve 1927, Please

“I wonder if you could reserve a year? The PCMA convention is always in 1939 or maybe just this year, and then next year it’ll be somewhere else. You wouldn’t want him to conflict because that would be awkward if you both went back to 1939, “Oh, you’re having your convention now.” “We had this year reserved.” I mean, just think of the logistical problems. Boy, I’m Mr. Negative Nellie on this show, but I just keep seeing the logistic problems”. Well, we see where you’re coming from, Brandt!

Time Travel For Events: Going Forward

“I mean, the future would be so cool too. I’m just imagining why would you go to the past to attend a past conference when you can go to a future one and see what the future going to look like. I mean, talk about technology. I mean our podcast would like be insane. We’d have topics on days because we’d be like, “Oh, we don’t have anything to talk about this week. Okay, let me just like go 50 years forward,” and be like, “Oh my gosh, you should see this thing that we’re going to get in 50 years.” I’m just imagining how exciting it’s going to be able to bring back that information from the future as well. But then the question is does that affect our past and all this”. Well, that would definitely be one heck of a podcast!

Careful, though…

Brandt says it like it is: “It would have to be heavily regulated. Right? I don’t think people like you or I would just be able to do it for that very reason that forward in time and having knowledge of the future means then coming back to your own time is just as dangerous as going back in time and all of the things that are fraught with that. So all of the things that I’ve already negatived about going back in time apply to go forward in time if you plan on coming back”.

Security, Security, Security

“One thing we have to look at too is like security at events is totally going to change, in multiple ways”, says Will. “First of all, time security, right? What’s going to keep someone from just like, “I’m going to come into the event” and something bad can happen, right? Like, “Oh my gosh, this is the second I know that this person’s presenting and speaking and I’m going to poof, show up and do a time assassination or something” like that. God forbid. But then there’s also the question of as well, will you need additional security? Will you need security to keep your event from really happening? There’s all these things I think this is going to create this whole new industry of time security as well when it comes to everything as well”.

“We think about security being tough now. What’s it going to be like in the future to keep you from some guy who can phase through walls. Metal detectors won’t be needed anymore. You know what I mean? I just. It just blows my mind”.

Time Travel For Events: What Else?

“I think that it is an interesting point. If something does go wrong, do you have the right to go back and fix it?” is a good point brought up by Brandt. “You know, event people are perfectionist already. Now give them the ability to go back in time and make it even better. Would our events ever get finished? You know what I mean? Would they ever be done because you can always go back and make it one step closer, and what happens when you get stuck in your own personal time loop trying to make your event perfect?”.

A Potential Solution

Here’s what Brandt proposes: “What if we did have the ability to combine some future tech? Let’s say we have the ability to go back and view the past or the future and maybe have ambassadors, shall we say, that are able to go back or forward in time and they’re able to visit without interfering kind of thing. You know, that’s something that comes up in sci-fi stories a lot, right? The idea of these watchers that are just kind of there to observe the event but not interfere in any way, shape, or form. And then those people are somehow able to transmit, “Hey, this was what it was like when we were there.” And then in our current timeline, we’re able to use some kind of holographic technology or VR technology to be able to be there without actually being there.”

“So now we’re taking it into our experiential events, right? Where we’re able to go back and experience what it was like to be there either through a sense-wise type thing or, to keep it even simpler we just are able to make our 1920s party better because we have that information, that more accurate information of what it was actually like, rather than just relying on stories or what was written down. History has a tendency to favor the positive and sometimes ignore the negatives”.

“There’s always going to be people that jump ahead. Even if we do come up with a safe way of doing that, what’s to prevent someone from going back and messing with the timeline”. And that’s true – we see it now, and we’ll see it then (if then ever comes).

“The optimistic scenario is that we’re able to go back and have these amazing experiences or go forward and have these amazing experiences. (…) The pragmatic possibility is that there’s going to have to be heavy regulation about it. So, I think that’s where you start to turn to those alternatives of what can we do to get around that and take advantage of the technology without destroying the world”. Without even noticing, Brandt closes today’s episode with a perfect summary.

That’s all for this week’s Event Tech Podcast! We hope you enjoyed walking with us through this amazing thought experiment. Did it get you thinking about-about the future and time travel for events? We sure hope it did…maybe you’ll be the one responsible for making it a reality!

Interstellar

Predestination

Exploring Augmented Reality And Virtual Reality In Events

You May Also Like

#EventProfs: Our New Community Platform

Author Brandt Krueger

With over 20 years experience in the meetings and events industry, Brandt has spoken at industry events and seminars all over the world, been published in numerous magazines and websites, and teaches public and private classes on meeting and event technology and production. He provides freelance technical production services, and is the owner of Event Technology Consulting.

Endless Events is a nationwide, technology-driven, innovative events management company. We take care of event production, event technology, event creative, and event strategy to create the perfect equation for your next event.

• Event Ideas
• Event Management
• Event Planning Tips
• Event Production
• Event Technology
• Event Podcasts

© 2024 Endless Events.

• Our Process
• Join the Team
• Become A Partner
• Case Studies
• Reviews & Testimonials
• Event Management Venue selection, catering, attendee communication, furniture, transportation
• Event Production Audio, video, lighting, staging & special effects
• Event Technology Registration, event platforms, audience engagement, live streaming & support
• Event Creative Graphic design, video production, event branding, presentation design & more
• Event Strategy Goal setting, budget formulation, session strategy, creative strategy & more
• Event Planning Videos
• #EventIcons
• View All Blog Posts
• Request For Proposal
• Odnoklassniki icon Odnoklassniki
• Facebook Messenger
• LiveJournal

Welcome to Time Travel Events

Upcoming shows.

The Goblin Market: Frost Fair

February 17, 2024.

The goblins return on the River Thames in London for a unique one-night only event.

Atlanta Cosplay Yard Sale

August 24, 2024.

Need cosplay ideas, accessories, or total outfits right before DragonCon?? We got the spot for you!

Tickets and Extras

Goblin Market Tickets

The goblin market 2024.

WE HAVE NOT SOLD OUT. Tickets are now available at the door for $20/each.

Scroll down for more details. 

$ 15.00

We go into details of events we've done or events we will do.

Information

The goblin market faq.

We get a lot of questions about The Goblin Market each year. We do understand that it is a unique event, so we’re going to do our best to help answer some common questions you Read more…

Time Traveling Book Fair Vendors List

Hi Time Travelers! Here’s a list of vendors at the Time Traveling Book Fair we had this past Saturday, September 30 in Acworth, GA. Please give them a follow and see where they’re headed to Read more…

Time Traveling Book Fair – Fall into the 90s

You don’t have to ask your parents for money or a blank check to attend this book fair! Join us September 30 at the Tanyard Creek Overlook (attached to the Acworth Community Center) for this Read more…

Need to contact us?

• TV & Film
• Say Maaate to a Mate
• First Impressions - The Game
• Daily Ladness
• Citizen Reef

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories , we're happy to send you some reminders

Click ' OK ' then ' Allow ' to enable notifications

'Time Traveller From 2714' Tells World To Prepare For Three Major Dates In 2022

Self-proclaimed time-traveller aery yormany (@aesthetictimewarper) shared a new video on tiktok.

Jess Hardiman

A ‘ time traveller ’ who says they’re from the year 2714 has told the world to prepare itself for three major events coming up in 2022 – including a warning about everyone’s favourite topic: Covid. 

Of course, many people purporting to be time travellers rarely have any straightforward, breezy premonitions for our future; they usually tend to favour the grandeur of the doom and gloom, whether we like it or not. 

They could tell us that your roast potato game will peak sometime around March, when you serve up the fluffiest, crispiest spuds you’ve ever made, or that at the end of October you’ll be treating yourself to a new washing machine. 

But arguably there’s not much TikTok content to be made from that, so instead we’re getting predictions about human-chimp babies and new Covid strains. Yay! 

Self-proclaimed time traveller Aery Yormany ( @aesthetictimewarper ) shared a new video to get us all ready for 2022, writing: “There is a lot you need to know.” 

In the clip, the TikToker says: "I have been thought of as a fake time traveller for too long, so remember these three major dates in early 2022.” 

They proceed to list three predictions for the coming year, including the discovery of a sea creature that’s even larger than a blue whale. 

They explain: "March 11 - the first human has a child with a chimpanzee, it can talk and has mixed features. 

"April 19 - a new Covid strain 'omega' emerges, five times worse than all other versions. 

"September 17 - the largest creature is discovered in the ocean, called the Cerine Croin, over four times the size of the blue whale." 

I’m not entirely sure September counts as ‘early 2022’, but we’ll just ignore that. 

As for the predictions themselves, it seems not everyone was entirely convinced, commenting to say they found the video ‘just really funny’. 

Others tried to add their own into the mix, with one joking: “I’m a time traveler and I predict that in February there will only be 28 days.” 

Another said: “I’m a time traveler too. On January 1st 2022 it will be the first day of that particular year. It’s true guys I’m 61 I’ve seen it happen before.” 

A third added: “I’m from the future also here’s my prediction... New Batman movie will be released March 4th 2022." 

Topics:  News , TikTok

Jess is Entertainment Desk Lead at LADbible Group. She graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics. You can contact Jess at [email protected] .

@ Jess_Hardiman

• People convinced they've spotted 'time traveller' in 1940s beach photo
• Barber explains why he left man who woke up to 38 missed calls asleep in chair for three hours
• Brits warned about new EU travel rules that could ban you from Europe for three years
• 'Time Traveller From 2714' Warns Of Three Dates To Look Out For This Month

Choose your content:

Hero workers saved lives minutes before ship collided with Baltimore bridge

They were instrumental in saving the lives of local residents.

'World's largest snake' found in Amazon has been shot dead weeks after going viral

Kate Abdo's boyfriend sends brutal warning to Jamie Carragher over controversial joke

First woman ever to complete sadistic torture race describes hallucinations after 60 hours without no sleep

20 Best Time-Travel Shows Ranked

If you could travel back and forth through time, where would you go? What would you do? Who would you talk to? Even better, if you were writing a book, making a movie, or working on a television show about time travel, what would you include? The best TV shows about time travel all feature characters who visit other eras for various compelling (or even life-threatening) reasons. Maybe it's to prevent a coming apocalypse, maybe it's just to save one person's life — but as many of these shows teach, small changes can have big effects, and many of these characters learn that their time-traveling can change the world.  

Now, there are some great time travel-adjacent shows that don't quite fit this list. A fun romp like "Early Edition," for example, utilizes a time-traveling newspaper and potentially a time-traveling cat, but doesn't in and of itself feature a lot of time travel. Likewise, something like "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" is rooted in a time travel premise, but stays mostly in one time. With all that said, here's a look at our choices for the 20 best time travel shows on TV.

Save the cheerleader, save the world. That's what future Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) tells present-day Hiro when he appears to him from the future, and that's what establishes "Heroes" as way more than just a superhero show.

The NBC series follows a group of regular people who develop special powers, not unlike mutants in the "X-Men" series, after a mysterious worldwide eclipse. Each character gains their own individual abilities. Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) develops the ability to heal from any injury. Senator Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) gains the ability to fly, while his brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) can temporarily absorb others' powers. Still, few of these characters have cooler abilities than Hiro, who can influence the space-time continuum. This means he can teleport, slow down time — and, of course, time travel.   

Understandably, Hiro's power set becomes a serious asset throughout the series, and his path to perfect his abilities is one of "Heroes'" strongest story arcs. The first few times he travels through time don't go as planned, and throughout the series, things can get in the way of him ending up where he wants to go or when he wants to be. While Hiro's time-traveling is just one part of the larger story, it's definitely one of the show's highlights – especially since Oka is so darn charming as the character.

19. 11.22.63

One of the best Stephen King TV series out there, the eight-episode "11.22.63" follows a man named Jake Epping (James Franco). He's a relatively normal guy who receives a chance to change history when his friend Al (Chris Cooper) tells him he's found a way to travel back in time. Al tells Jake that the portal he's discovered goes back to the year 1960 and that he's been working on a plan to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Al's age and advancing cancer diagnosis prevent him from following through on the plan, however, and he asks Jake to take over for him. Jake agrees, but soon his quest is met with pushback from a mysterious source. As it turns out, the past doesn't want to be changed, and every step Jake takes toward preventing JFK's assassination leads to more cracks in the timeline. 

A charming and exciting time travel drama, "11.22.63" is a well-executed, twisty tale that only ranks so low on this list because it's in such great company. If you're looking for a quick, self-contained time travel miniseries that revolves around one of modern America's most notable events, this show is well worth a watch. 

When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crash lands on a deserted island, wacky and scary things start happening to the survivors. ABC's "Lost" deals with flashbacks, flash-forwards, mysterious groups that already have a presence on the island, a black smoke monster — and, as it turns out, an ancient battle between good and evil. One of the great appointment television shows before streaming broke through, "Lost" had fans talking about it and theorizing about its mysteries on a weekly basis.

The sci-fi drama captivated viewers for six seasons, and though time travel is referenced throughout the entire series run, it plays the biggest role in Season 4. As the island itself leaps from place to place and from time to time, the main group of characters jumps with it, encountering previous versions of themselves and island events that occurred in the past, and suffering from the effects of temporal displacement. The most beloved episode dealing with time travel is undoubtedly "The Constant," in which fan-favorite Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) figures out a way to stop his consciousness from jumping through time by finding his constant — his true love, Penny (Sonya Walger).

Of course, "Lost" is not just a time travel show, and famously covers such a wide variety of mysteries and sci-fi concepts that viewers might find it hard to keep up. As such, it ends up with this relatively low ranking. 

Like "Lost", "Fringe" is considered one of the most binge-worthy sci-fi shows of all time  but the fact that it isn't exclusively about time travel means it lands near the tail end of this particular list. The ABC show revolves around a science-fiction conglomerate that dabbles with interdimensional travel, wormholes, and alternate realities. Anna Torv stars as FBI Agent Olivia Dunham, who heads up the bureau's Fringe Division. With the help of "mad scientist" Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson), and their lab assistant Astrid Farnsworth (Jakisa Nicole), Dunham explores cases involving fringe science — be they about time travel, mind control, experiments gone wrong or any other strange and obscure criminal activity.

Time travel is more of a looming presence early in "Fringe," particularly present in the character of the Observer (Michael Cerveris), a bald, pale, genetically advanced human from the future. While Season 1 and Season 2 deal with the battle between two dimensions and realities, time travel really becomes an element in Season 3. Seasons 4 and 5 then deal with alternate timelines and the Observers that infiltrate the world from the future, intent on wiping out humanity. As you might expect, things can get a bit confusing, but the show sure is fun.

16. The Umbrella Academy

You have to respect a show that's so high-concept that time travel doesn't even get top billing. "The Umbrella Academy" boasts mysterious events, family drama, dance numbers, a talking chimpanzee, some of the cleverest superpowers in superhero shows, and a robot mom — and that's just scratching the surface. Based on "The Umbrella Academy" comics created by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance fame, the Netflix show is a saga that exploits everything from the butterfly effect to the grandfather paradox for emotional and comedic impact.

The central Hargreeves family consists of a group of kids all born on the same day, adopted by the same eccentric billionaire (Colm Feore). He has trained them to protect the world with their various superpowers, but they aren't particularly great at it, and their strict upbringing has left them with a wide array of issues and deep rifts between them. The dysfunctional bunch starts out fairly estranged, but slowly bonds to save humanity from an apocalyptic event ... only to cause another potential apocalyptic event by sprinkling themselves across time.

In between the tears in the space-time continuum, "The Umbrella Academy" is ultimately an ensemble story about found (and re-found) family, as well as a truly unique superhero show where personal failure and the side-effects of costumed crimefighter life play a huge role. However, since Season 1 largely approaches time travel through Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) and the Temps Aeternalis agency, and much of Season 3 focuses on a present-day alternate reality, only the 1960s-themed Season 2 goes truly all in on the concept of sending all main characters to a different era. 

15. Sliders

"Sliders" is a 1990s sci-fi adventure series that features Jerry O'Connell and friends getting lost across the multiverse. O'Connell ("Stand By Me") plays boy genius Quinn Mallory, inventor of the Timer — a device that lets him and his friends "slide" through a wormhole vortex into different versions of Earth. The thing about wormhole vortexes, though, is that they like to misbehave, meaning Quinn and his buds never know where they're headed next on their adventures. This makes their quest to get back home to their own Earth a tricky one.

"Sliders" starts off fun and strong, and is at its best when having bonkers fun — like when Rembrandt (Cleavant Derricks) discovers a world where he could have been Elvis-level famous — and when it's exploring real-world issues in a high-concept dimension, like when the crew visits an Earth that treats men worse than women. Even if you've seen it before, it's definitely worth a re-watch, because "Sliders" is one  TV show that's better than you remember.

14. Continuum

On "Continuum," Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) is a Protector – think futuristic government agent from even more futuristic equipment — from the year 2077. She gets transported to the year 2012 along with a group of murderous terrorists, forcing Kiera to remain in the past as she chases them down. Fortunately, her gadgets and knowledge of the past soon come in handy and she finds loyal allies. Unfortunately, her enemies also know their history and plan on altering it for their own gain. 

"Continuum" milks the premise for all it's worth, while avoiding the pitfall of becoming a run-in-the-mill procedural with an unchanging status quo. While Kiera does handle her share of case-of-the-week story arcs, they're often connected to the group she pursues, and she never lets go of her primary target of stopping the terrorists. In order to avoid disrupting the timeline, she also has to go to great lengths to avoid revealing that either she or her targets are time travelers — and when their actions inevitably end up changing the future, she has to deal with the consequences. 

13. Timeless

If ever there was a time travel show that was canceled too soon, it's Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan's "Timeless." The NBC sci-fi series stars Abigail Spencer as the historian Lucy, Matt Lanter as the soldier Wyatt, and Malcolm Barrett as Rufus, a scientist who makes up a team trying to prevent a mysterious organization from altering the courses of history through time travel. They're up againsts Garcia Flynn (Goran Višnjić), who travels throughout history intending to influence major events like the Hindenburg disaster. However, the team soon realizes that the villain they thought they were fighting is much larger and infiltrates the historical timeline in ways they never imagined. 

Instead of focusing on the usual historical suspects, "Timeless" often highlights forgotten people of color, women, and lesser-known historical figures, giving them their due and celebrating their contributions to society. This element of the show can be seen in the way Rufus, for instance, is reluctant to join the team because he knows how Black people are treated in the eras they visit. 

Despite its intriguing concept, the show was canceled after Season 1, but fans caused such an uproar that NBC reversed the decision of canceling "Timeless"  and renewed it for another season. After Season 2, NBC pulled the plug once more, and again, the fans cried foul. In a kind of compromise, NBC greenlit a special two-hour series finale that ties up loose ends and gives much-needed closure to the story. 

12. 12 Monkeys

The "12 Monkeys" SyFy series is based on the 1995 film of the same name that stars Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt — though the series makes a fair few changes to stretch the plot into a four-season sci-fi drama. The series stars Aaron Sanford as James Cole, a scavenger from the year 2024 who's tasked with traveling to 2015 in order to stop the release of a biological weapon. In the movie, James is helped by a psychologist named Kathryn Railly played by Madeleine Stowe, but here, he befriends a virologist named Dr. Cassandra "Cassie" Railly (Amanda Schull). Pitt's character, Jeffrey Goines, is also gender-swapped here, with Emily Hampshire playing Jennifer Goines.

Like the movie, the series deals with the Cassandra Complex, the idea that we have a hard time believing concerns about the future, no matter how likely and provable they are. It also deals with circular time and the idea that past events can be affected by future ones. If those aspects of the film lift your time travel antennae, the four-season show dives even deeper.

11. Paper Girls

"Paper Girls" is a brilliant time travel show that was canceled way ahead of its time. Based on the comics by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang, this Amazon series tells the story of a group of 1990s tween girls who get attacked by futuristic invaders. They manage to escape into the future, where one of the girls, Erin (Riley Lai Nelet ), meets her adult self (Ali Wong).

The show dispenses with grandfather paradox hand-wringing and instead uses the concept of the girls confronting their past and future selves, to brutally honest and hilarious effect. Young Erin is horrified to find out how much of herself she's abandoned by the time she turns into Old Erin, and refuses to let life work out that way. It motivates Erin to want to return to her home time even more — this kid has a clock to beat. However, there are two sides to the coin, and Old Erin is also able to care for her young self in ways she never felt able to when she was younger. It's a beautiful and potent visual metaphor that other characters also make good on. 

All in all, "Paper Girls" is a feast for the eyes as much as its ensemble cast is a feast for the soul. Plus, Jason Mantzoukas playfully chewing scenery as the ominous Grand Father? This show could have lasted until the end of time — or at least until Season 2.

10. Timewasters

"Timewasters" is a time travel comedy about a Black British jazz band that accidentally time-slips back to 1920s London, among other timelines. The quartet stumbles into an earlier time perod via a disgusting elevator that, yes, doubles as a time machine. Once the crew shows up in the past, they're treated like freaks, but they gain some measure of success as musicians. While the crew eventually tries to return to the present, they also have a "Back to the Future" moment when they seemingly get stuck in the 1950s.

"Timewasters" is full of funny jokes and great music, and it's a groundbreaking show in a number of ways. "People like us never get to time travel — it's what white people do, like skiing or brunch," creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor told the Royal Television Society . "For me, race is so important." Taylor also stars in "Timewasters," along with Kadiff Kirwan ("Slow Horses"), Adelayo Adedayo ("Some Girls"), and Samson Kayo ("Our Flag Means Death"). The show is also an excellent destination if you're into spotting a variety of British actors and comedians ... including Joseph Quinn, who went on to rise to fame as Eddie Munson on "Stranger Things."

9. Outlander

Based on the series of novels by Diana Gabaldon, Starz's "Outlander" follows the story of a World War II nurse named Claire (Caitriona Balfe) who finds herself thrown back in time after visiting a circle of mysterious Druid stones. She arrives in 18th Century Scotland and, after being taken in by a band of gruff Scots, she marries the dashing young Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) in order to avoid being taken prisoner by her real husband's (Tobias Menzies) apparent evil ancestor, Black Jack Randall (Menzies). Claire lives through a time of great upheaval in Scotland when tensions with British control are rising and history-making battles loom in the near future. Despite being initially reluctant to stay, she and Jamie fall deeply in love, and their romance remains the backbone of the series.

The entire "Outlander" timeline  takes some time to explain, what with several 20th-century characters taking the trip to the 18th century and the show covering versions of notable real-world historical events. Without further spoilers, all there is to say is that if you enjoy time travel shows that lean heavily toward historical drama, "Outlander" is where it's at. Also, if you view Tobias Menzies as an incorrigible dweeb due to his performance as Edmure Tully on "Game of Thrones," his monstrous "Outlander" villain is guaranteed to erase that image.

8. Quantum Leap

"Quantum Leap" stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who invents a way to travel through time. When the corporation funding his project threatens to shut it down, Sam uses himself as a guinea pig to test out the method. He finds himself thrown back in time, but in another person's body. The only other entity aware of his 'leap" is a hologram of his colleague and best friend, Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell). Al tells Sam that he must correct things that went wrong in the past before being allowed to leap back to his own time and body, and can only use the resources of the project's supercomputer, Ziggy.

With Sam leaping back and forth into different bodies at different times, the show uses a variant of the traditional procedural set up. New characters turn up to guest star and Sam gets to save the day, have a fling, and learn something new before leaping to the next destination, which just might be home one of these days.  

The series ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993, but its combination of time travel and case-of-the-week antics has proved enduring enough that "Quantum Leap" even gets a shout-out in "Avengers: Endgame." Despite being over three decades old, it remains a cool time travel series worth checking out.

7. The 4400

In the opening scenes of "The 4400," an enormous ball of light drops 4,400 people at the foot of Mount Rainier in Washington. They soon realize that they were all taken from some other point in time and deposited into the year 2004, unaged and without any memories of where they'd been. At first, everyone assumes that these people have been abducted by aliens. However, it soon turns out that the truth is far more time travel-related.

The returned people soon start developing "Heroes"-style powers that range from telekinesis to telepathy and super-strength, which people from the future have entrusted with to prevent various catastrophic events that they want to avoid in their timeline. Unfortunately, the 2004 government considers the powered folks a threat, and inhibits their powers with a neurological drug. 

The stories that unfold from this setup are exactly as complex and entertaining as you'd imagine, with various members of the titular group treating their powers in different ways and society having a hard time dealing with them. Unfortunately, "The 4400" ended abruptly after four seasons on a somewhat ambiguous note, but even so, it's a fun show to revisit.

6. Travelers

In Netflix's "Travelers," time-traveling operatives from a post-apocalyptic future are tasked with preventing certain events that have led to the downfall of society in their own present day of 2018. The travelers' consciousness takes over a person in the desired time who's just about to die, and the operative then lives out the rest of that person's days though with the mission in mind ... and a strict set of rules they must follow. Apart from a list of ways they're not allowed to interact with the past, they're also strictly forbidden from communicating with other known travelers outside their team, save for special circumstances dictated by the Director, who communicates by temporarily taking over children. 

It's a unique and complex premise, and the way the travelers scope out potential targets for takeover and learn to live as them is as timely as it comes — they use social media, GPS locations, and other readily available online information for their time-travel tricks. This adds a layer of present-day dread to the show's fascinating take on time travel. 

Loki Laufeyson (Tom Hiddleston) meets his match when he comes up against the Time Variance Authority in one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most ambitious Disney+ shows, "Loki." The TVA is so dedicated to maintaining a particular sacred timeline that they purge all alternate realities where someone made a choice they deem wrong, which might not always make sense, but precision isn't the point here. It's the idea of playfulness versus control. 

The Loki we see here is an alternate-timeline variant of the one the audiences are familiar with, and thus starts the show in full "The Avengers" villain mode before life — and time — starts grinding him down. Working with TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), he starts redeeming himself by tracking down an apparently evil version of himself, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) ... and ultimately tackling the biggest challenges time can offer.  

The God of Mischief's surprisingly human path of reckoning is the heart of a show that's deliciously stylish, silly, and sometimes scary. "Loki" takes a cops-and-robbers crime caper into time travel territory and explores hefty themes with a light touch, from mindless compliance to self-serving overseers to criminalizing anyone deemed different. "Loki" isn't just a time travel show — it's a show about everything time can offer and more, with characters dancing between eras as you might step from room to room. Also, it has Alligator Loki, who's objectively the best Loki of all. 

If "Loki" is too light-hearted for you, Netflix's "Dark" might be your jam ... provided you can make sense of its incredibly convoluted time travel storyline. Four families weave a tangled web of time travel in this German-language psychological thriller about missing kids, a rotten town, and how almost all of our secrets come out in time. In other words, it's a good time travel show, but it's definitely not a feel-good time travel show. 

"Dark" follows its many characters over the course of their lifetimes and, at one point, has three timelines going at once. Part of the intrigue and challenge of watching the show is trying to understand how (and when) each timeline threads into the other. If you decide to watch it, it's best to have an evidence board and plenty of red yarn ready to chart the relationships and betrayals the town of Winden sees over the years.

While "Dark" is as much a show about human connection and how frayed it can become as it is about time travel, it's also the MVP of using as many time travel paradoxes as possible during its three-season run. "Dark" is also an innovator in the field of wormhole placement. Wormholes are already not to be trusted, but a wormhole underneath a nuclear power plant? No, thank you.

3. Beforeigners

What happens when a bunch of Viking-era warriors, 19th-century figures, and Stone Age people pop up in modern-day Oslo? "Beforeigners" attempts to answer that question while navigating twisty murder mysteries with such efficiency that the Norwegian series may be best described as "crime travel." Adding to the intrigue is the way it focuses more on the present-day relationship between the time refugees and their modern counterparts than on how they showed up in the first place.

"Beforeigners" centers around the odd-couple partnership between hardened police detective Lars Haaland (Nicolai Cleve Broch) and eager new Viking police recruit Alfhildr Enginnsdóttir (Krista Kosonen), who investigate things like the murder of a Stone Age victim and even look into crimes with possible ties to Jack the Ripper.

The metaphor of time migration is an apt one for immigration, and this sci-fi show explores tricky real-life issues with plenty of scope. Creators Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin got their start in comedy writing, and their commitment to the bit is evident in the show, including the language used. "Early on, I contacted researchers, professors who helped us. We also constructed the language that Stone Age people spoke, and even with the language from the 19th century: We worked on it to make it sound right," Bjørnstad told Variety . "Why not invest in language, which is such a big part of a person's identity?"

2. Russian Doll

"Russian Doll" could be pitched as "Natasha Lyonne's 'Groundhog Day,'" but that still wouldn't hint at half of the show's charm and emotion. This Netflix offering is a mind-bending time loop dramedy that's a stylish and surreal exploration of life, death, and all the trauma in between. Season 1 of "Russian Doll" features Nadia (Lyonne) stuck reliving her 36th birthday until she inevitably dies and resets back to her friend's bathroom. Later in the season, she discovers a fellow time traveler (Charlie Barnett). They quickly realize that the way out of their dead ends and into a new life is through helping each other.

Season 2 takes some departures from the recursive reality set up in the first season, bending viewers' minds even more thoroughly. "Russian Doll" goes deep, but keeps a sense of humor even as it twists the knife in its characters' hearts — and their timelines. The show keeps audiences just oriented enough by linking its time loops to recognizable spaces and sound cues. You will never look at the subway the same way again, and you will probably never get Harry Nilsson's "Gotta Get Up" out of your head.

1. Doctor Who

Really, could any other show top a list like this?  The untold history of "Doctor Who"  goes all the way back to 1963, when the show premiered on the BBC. The series follows the adventures of a Time Lord who calls themselves the Doctor — an alien being from the planet Gallifrey who travels through space and time on a craft called the TARDIS, which is charmingly disguised as an old-fashioned British police call box and is famously bigger on the inside.  Every Doctor has their own companions  – humans who follow the Doctor throughout space and time, helping people, battling new and recurring villains, and dealing with the assorted wibbly-wobbly stuff on the Doctor's timeline .

The original series ran from 1963 through 1989 and established the neat trick of recasting the Doctor every few years or so, thanks to the premise that the character has multiple lives and can reincarnate himself into different physical bodies. The modern series was revived in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, and talented actors like David Tennant (twice), Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whitaker, and Ncuti Gatwa have followed in his footsteps. Even without the fact that no other show has time travel quite as integrated into its very premise as "Doctor Who," the show's sheer longevity and cultural impact are more than enough to make it the king of the time travel hill. 

Advertisement

Mental Time Travel? A Neurocognitive Model of Event Simulation

• Published: 30 April 2020
• Volume 11 , pages 233–259, ( 2020 )

Cite this article

• Donna Rose Addis 1 , 2 , 3  

3493 Accesses

69 Citations

29 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

Mental time travel (MTT) is defined as projecting the self into the past and the future. Despite growing evidence of the similarities of remembering past and imagining future events, dominant theories conceive of these as distinct capacities. I propose that memory and imagination are fundamentally the same process – constructive episodic simulation – and demonstrate that the ‘simulation system’ meets the three criteria of a neurocognitive system. Irrespective of whether one is remembering or imagining, the simulation system: (1) acts on the same information, drawing on elements of experience ranging from fine-grained perceptual details to coarser-grained conceptual information and schemas about the world; (2) is governed by the same rules of operation, including associative processes that facilitate construction of a schematic scaffold, the event representation itself, and the dynamic interplay between the two (cf. predictive coding); and (3) is subserved by the same brain system. I also propose that by forming associations between schemas, the simulation system constructs multi-dimensional cognitive spaces, within which any given simulation is mapped by the hippocampus. Finally, I suggest that simulation is a general capacity that underpins other domains of cognition, such as the perception of ongoing experience. This proposal has some important implications for the construct of ‘MTT’, suggesting that ‘time’ and ‘travel’ may not be defining, or even essential, features. Rather, it is the ‘mental’ rendering of experience that is the most fundamental function of this domain-general simulation system enabling humans to re-experience the past, pre-experience the future, and also comprehend the complexities of the present.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Mental Time Travel and Disjunctivism

István Aranyosi

Spontaneous and deliberate future thinking: a dual process account

Scott Cole & Lia Kvavilashvili

Episodic Memory, Simulated Future Planning, and their Evolution

Armin W. Schulz & Sarah Robins

Addis, D.R. 2018. Are episodic memories special? On the sameness of remembered and imagined event simulation. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 48 (2–3): 64–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2018.1439071 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Addis, D.R., T. Cheng, R.P. Roberts, and D.L. Schacter. 2011. Hippocampal contributions to the episodic simulation of specific and general future events. Hippocampus 21: 1045–1052. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.20870 .

Addis, D.R., S. Hach, and L.J. Tippett. 2016. Do strategic processes contribute to the specificity of future simulation in depression? The British Journal of Clinical Psychology 55: 167–186. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12103 .

Addis, D.R., M. Moscovitch, A.P. Crawley, and M.P. McAndrews. 2004. Recollective qualities modulate hippocampal activation during autobiographical memory retrieval. Hippocampus 14: 752–762. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.10215 .

Addis, D.R., L. Pan, M.A. Vu, N. Laiser, and D.L. Schacter. 2009. Constructive episodic simulation of the future and the past: Distinct subsystems of a core brain network mediate imagining and remembering. Neuropsychologia 47: 2222–2238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.10.026 .

Addis, D.R., and D.L. Schacter. 2012. The Hippocampus and Imagining the Future: Where Do We Stand? Front Hum Neurosci 5 : 173. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00173 .

Addis, D.R., A.T. Wong, and D.L. Schacter. 2007. Remembering the past and imagining the future: Common and distinct neural substrates during event construction and elaboration. Neuropsychologia 45: 1363–1377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.016 .

Addis, D.R., A.T. Wong, and D.L. Schacter. 2008. Age-related changes in the episodic simulation of future events. Psychological Science 19: 33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02043.x .

Anderson, R.J., S.A. Dewhurst, and R.A. Nash. 2012. Shared cognitive processes underlying past and future thinking: the impact of imagery and concurrent task demands on event specificity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition 38: 356–365. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025451 .

Arzy, S., and D.L. Schacter. 2019. Self-agency and self-ownership in cognitive mapping. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 23: 476–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2019.04.003 .

Atance, C.M., and D.K. O'Neill. 2001. Episodic future thinking. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5 (12): 533–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01804-0 .

Baddeley, A.D. 2000. The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4: 417–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01538-2 .

Baldassano, C., J. Chen, A. Zadbood, J.W. Pillow, U. Hasson, and K.A. Norman. 2017. Discovering event structure in continuous narrative perception and memory. Neuron 95: 709–721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.06.041 .

Bar, M. 2009. The proactive brain: Memory for predictions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 364 (1521): 1235–1243. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0310 .

Bartlett, F.C. 1932. Remembering . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Google Scholar  

Beaty, R.E., M. Benedek, S. Barry Kaufman, and P.J. Silvia. 2015. Default and executive network coupling supports creative idea production. Scientific Reports 5: 10964. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10964 .

Behrens, T.E.J., T.H. Muller, J.C.R. Whittington, S. Mark, A.B. Baram, K.L. Stachenfeld, and Z. Kurth-Nelson. 2018. What is a cognitive map? Organizing knowledge for flexible behavior. Neuron 100: 490–509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.10.002 .

Binder, J.R., R.H. Desai, W.W. Graves, and L.L. Conant. 2009. Where is the semantic system? A critical review and meta-analysis of 120 functional neuroimaging studies. Cerebral Cortex 19: 2767–2796. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhp055 .

Brewin, C.R. 2014. Episodic memory, perceptual memory, and their interaction: Foundations for a theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Bulletin 140: 69–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033722 .

Buckner, R.L., and D.C. Carroll. 2007. Self-projection and the brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11: 49–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.004 .

Burianova, H., and C.L. Grady. 2007. Common and unique neural activations in autobiographical, episodic, and semantic retrieval. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 19: 1520–1534. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2007.19.9.1520 .

Cabeza, R., and M. Moscovitch. 2013. Memory systems, processing modes, and components: Functional neuroimaging evidence. Perspectives on Psychological Science 8: 49–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612469033 .

Cabral, J., M.L. Kringelbach, and G. Deco. 2014. Exploring the network dynamics underlying brain activity during rest. Progress in Neurobiology 114: 102–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2013.12.005 .

Chen, J., C.J. Honey, E. Simony, M.J. Arcaro, K.A. Norman, and U. Hasson. 2016. Accessing real-life episodic information from minutes versus hours earlier modulates hippocampal and high-order cortical dynamics. Cerebral Cortex 26: 3428–3441. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhv155 .

Christoff, K., Z.C. Irving, K.C.R. Fox, R.N. Spreng, and J.R. Andrews-Hanna. 2016. Mind-wandering as spontaneous thought: A dynamic framework. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17: 718–731. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.113 .

Christoff, K., V. Prabhakaran, J. Dorfman, Z. Zhao, J.K. Kroger, K.J. Holyoak, and J.D. Gabrieli. 2001. Rostrolateral prefrontal cortex involvement in relational integration during reasoning. Neuroimage 14 (5): 1136–1149. https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.0922 .

Conway, M.A., and C.W. Pleydell-Pearce. 2000. The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review 107: 261–288. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.107.2.261 .

Craik, F.I.M. 2007. Encoding: A cognitive perspective. In Science of memory concepts , ed. H.L. Roediger, Y. Dudai, and S.M. Fitzpatrick, 129–136. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310443.003.0007 .

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Craik, F.I.M., and R.S. Lockhart. 1972. Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 11: 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80001-X .

D'Argembeau, A., D. Stawarczyk, S. Majerus, F. Collette, M. Van der Linden, D. Feyers, et al. 2010. The neural basis of personal goal processing when envisioning future events. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 22: 1701–1713. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21314 .

D'Argembeau, A., and M. Van der Linden. 2004. Phenomenal characteristics associated with projecting oneself back into the past and forward into the future: Influence of valence and temporal distance. Consciousness & Cognition 13: 844–858.

D'Argembeau, A., and M. Van der Linden. 2006. Individuals differences in the phenomenology of mental time travel: The effects of vivid visual imagery and emotion regulation strategies. Consciousness and Cognition 15: 342–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2004.07.007 .

D'Argembeau, A., and M. Van der Linden. 2012. Predicting the phenomenology of episodic future thoughts. Consciousness and Cognition 21: 1198–1206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2012.05.004 .

Dannenberg, H., A.S. Alexander, J.C. Robinson, and M.E. Hasselmo. 2018. The role of hierarchical dynamical functions in coding for episodic memory and cognition. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 31 (9): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01439 .

Dayan, P., G.E. Hinton, and R.M.T. Neal. 1995. The Helmholtz machine. Neural Computation 7: 889–904. https://doi.org/10.1162/neco.1995.7.5.889 .

De Brigard, F., D.R. Addis, J.H. Ford, D.L. Schacter, and K.S. Giovanello. 2013. Remembering what could have happened: Neural correlates of episodic counterfactual thinking. Neuropsychologia 51: 2401–2414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.01.015 .

de Vito, S., N. Gamboz, and M.A. Brandimonte. 2012a. What differentiates episodic future thinking from complex scene imagery? Consciousness and Cognition 21: 813–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2012.01.013 .

de Vito, S., N. Gamboz, A.M. Brandimonte, P. Barone, M. Amboni, and S. Della Sala. 2012b. Future thinking in Parkinson's disease: An executive function? Neuropsychologia 50: 1494–1501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.03.001 .

Devitt, A.L., E. Monk-Fromont, D.L. Schacter, and D.R. Addis. 2016. Factors that influence the generation of autobiographical memory conjunction errors. Memory 24: 204–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2014.998680 .

Dixon, M.L., A. De La Vega, C. Mills, J.R. Andrews-Hanna, R.N. Spreng, M.W. Cole, and K. Christoff. 2018. Heterogeneity within the frontoparietal control network and its relationship to the default and dorsal attention networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115: E1598–E1607. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1715766115 .

Ernst, A., A. Scoboria, and A. D’Argembeau. 2019. On the role of autobiographical knowledge in shaping belief in the future occurrence of imagined events. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 72: 2658–2671. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021819855621 .

Frith, U., and C. Frith. 2003. Development and neurophysiology of mentalizing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B . Biological Sciences 358: 459–473. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2002.1218 .

Fuster, J.M. 1997. Network memory. Trends in Neurosciences 20: 451–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-2236(97)01128-4 .

Garry, M., C.G. Manning, E.F. Loftus, and S.J. Sherman. 1996. Imagination inflation: Imagining a childhood event inflates confidence that it occurred. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 3 (2): 208–214. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212420 .

Gentner, D. 1983. Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science 7: 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0364-0213(83)80009-3 .

Ghosh, V.E., and A. Gilboa. 2014. What is a memory schema? A historical perspective on current neuroscience literature. Neuropsychologia 53: 104–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.11.010 .

Gilboa, A., and H. Marlatte. 2017. Neurobiology of schemas and schema-mediated memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 21: 618–631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2017.04.013 .

Gilboa, A., and M. Moscovitch. 2017. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex generates pre-stimulus theta coherence desynchronization: A schema instantiation hypothesis. Cortex 87: 16–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2016.10.008 .

Graf, P., and D.L. Schacter. 1989. Unitization and grouping mediate dissociations in memory for new associations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition 15: 930–940. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.15.5.930 .

Grysman, A., J. Prabhakar, S.M. Anglin, and J.A. Hudson. 2013. The time travelling self: Comparing self and other in narratives of past and future events. Consciousness & Cognition 22: 742–755. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.010 .

Hassabis, D., D. Kumaran, S.D. Vann, and E.A. Maguire. 2007. Patients with hippocampal amnesia cannot imagine new experiences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104: 1726–1731. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0610561104 .

Hassabis, D., and E.A. Maguire. 2007. Deconstructing episodic memory with construction. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11: 299–306.

Hasson, U., J. Chen, and C.J. Honey. 2015. Hierarchical process memory: Memory as an integral component of information processing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19: 304–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.04.006 .

Hebb, D.O. 1949. The organization of behavior: A neuropsychological theory . Oxford: Wiley.

Holyoak, K.J. 2012. Analogy and relational reasoning. In The Oxford handbook of thinking and reasoning , ed. K.J. Holyoak and R.G. Morrison, 234–259. New York, N.Y: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734689.013.0013 .

Horner, A.J., and N. Burgess. 2013. The associative structure of memory for multi-element events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 142: 1370–1383. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033626 .

Hummel, J.E., and K.J. Holyoak. 2003. A symbolic-connectionist theory of relational inference and generalization. Psychological Review 110: 220–263. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.110.2.220 .

Irish, M., D.R. Addis, J. Hodges, and O. Piguet. 2012a. Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: Evidence from semantic dementia. Brain 135: 2178–2191. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aws119 .

Irish, M., D.R. Addis, J. Hodges, and O. Piguet. 2012b. Exploring the content and quality of episodic future thinking simulations in semantic dementia. Neuropsychologia 50: 3488–3495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.09.012 .

Irish, M., and O. Piguet. 2013. The pivotal role of semantic memory in remembering the past and imagining the future. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 7: 27. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00027 .

Isomura, T., T. Parr, and K. Friston. 2019. Bayesian filtering with multiple internal models: Toward a theory of social intelligence. Neural Computation 31: 2390–2431. https://doi.org/10.1162/neco_a_01239 .

Johnson, M.K., S. Hashtroudi, and D.S. Lindsay. 1993. Source monitoring. Psychological Bulletin 114: 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.114.1.3 .

Johnson, M.K., and C.L. Raye. 1981. Reality monitoring. Psychological Review 88: 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.88.1.67 .

Kensinger, E.A., R.J. Garoff-Eaton, and D.L. Schacter. 2007. Effects of emotion on memory specificity: Memory trade-offs elicited by negative visually arousing stimuli. Journal of Memory and Language 56: 575–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2006.05.004 .

Levine, B., E. Svoboda, J.F. Hay, G. Winocur, and M. Moscovitch. 2002. Aging and autobiographical memory: Dissociating episodic from semantic retrieval. Psychology and Aging 17: 677–689. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.17.4.677 .

Mahr, J., and G. Csibra. 2018. Why do we remember? The communicative function of episodic memory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 41: e1. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X17000012 .

Mar, R.A. 2004. The neuropsychology of narrative: Story comprehension, story production and their interrelation. Neuropsychologia 42: 1414–1434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.12.016 .

McIntosh, A.R. 2007. Coding and representation: The importance of mesoscale dynamics. In Science of memory concepts , ed. H.L. Roediger, Y. Dudai, and S.M. Fitzpatrick, 65–68. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310443.003.0004 .

Menon, V., and L.Q. Uddin. 2010. Saliency, switching, attention and control: A network model of insula function. Brain Structure & Function 214: 655–667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-010-0262-0 .

Michaelian, K. 2011. Generative memory. Philosophical Psychology 24: 323–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2011.559623 .

Michaelian, K. 2016a. Against discontinuism: Mental time travel and our knowledge of past and future events. In Seeing the future: Theoretical perspectives on future-oriented mental time travel , ed. K. Michaelian, S.B. Klein, and K.K. Szpunar, 62–92. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190241537.003.0004 .

Michaelian, K. 2016b. Confabulating, misremembering, relearning: The simulation theory of memory and unsuccessful remembering. Frontiers in Psychology 7: 1857. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01857 .

Misra, P., A. Marconi, M. Peterson, and G. Kreiman. 2018. Minimal memory for details in real life events. Scientific Reports 8: 16701. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33792-2 .

Neisser, U. 1976. Cognition and reality: Principles and implications of cognitive psychology . New York, NY: W H Freeman/Times Books/ Henry Holt & Co..

O'Keefe, J., and L. Nadel. 1978. The hippocampus as a cognitive map . Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Okuda, J., T. Fujii, H. Ohtake, T. Tsukiura, K. Tanji, K. Suzuki, R. Kawashima, H. Fukuda, M. Itoh, and A. Yamadori. 2003. Thinking of the future and the past: The roles of the frontal pole and the medial temporal lobes. Neuroimage 19: 1369–1380. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8119(03)00179-4 .

Peer, M., Y. Ron, R. Monsa, and S. Arzy. 2019. Processing of different spatial scales in the human brain. eLife 8: e47492. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.47492 .

Perrin, D. 2016. Asymmetries in subjective time. In Seeing the future: Theoretical perspectives on future-oriented mental time travel , ed. K. Michaelian, S.B. Klein, and K.K. Szpunar, 39–61. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190241537.003.0003 .

Perrin, D., and K. Michaelian. 2017. Memory as mental time travel. In The Routledge handbook of philosophy of memory , ed. S. Bernecker and K. Michaelian, 228–240. London: Routledge.

Rasmussen, A.S., and D. Berntsen. 2013. The reality of the past versus the ideality of the future: Emotional valence and functional differences between past and future mental time travel. Memory & Cognition 41: 187–200. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-012-0260-y .

Richardson, A. 2012. Defaulting to fiction: Neuroscience rediscovers the romantic imagination. Poetics Today 32 (4): 663–692. https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-1459845 .

Roberts, R.P., and D.R. Addis. 2018. A common mode of processing governing divergent thinking and future imagination. In The Cambridge handbook of the neuroscience of creativity , ed. R.E. Jung and O. Vartanian, 211–230. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316556238.013 .

Roberts, R.P., D.L. Schacter, and D.R. Addis. 2017a. Scene construction and relational processing: Separable constructs? Cerebral Cortex . https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhx081 .

Roberts, R.P., K. Wiebels, R.L. Sumner, V. van Mulukom, C.L. Grady, D.L. Schacter, and D.R. Addis. 2017b. An fMRI investigation of the relationship between future imagination and cognitive flexibility. Neuropsychologia 95: 156–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.11.019 .

Robins, S.K. 2016. Misremembering. Philosophical Psychology 29: 432–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2015.1113245 .

Roediger, H.L., Y. Dudai, and S.M. Fitzpatrick, eds. 2007. Science of memory concepts . New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310443.001.0001 .

Book   Google Scholar  

Rubin, D.C., and S. Umanath. 2015. Event memory: A theory of memory for laboratory, autobiographical, and fictional events. Psychological Review 122: 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037907 .

Rumelhart, D.E., and A. Ortony. 1977. The representation of knowledge in memory. In Schooling and the acquisition of knowledge , ed. R.C. Anderson, R.J. Spiro, and W.E. Montague, 99–135. Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum.

Schacter, D.L., and D.R. Addis. 2007. The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: Remembering the past and imagining the future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 362: 773–786. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2087 .

Schacter, D.L., D.R. Addis, and R.L. Buckner. 2007. The prospective brain: Remembering the past to imagine the future. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 8: 657–661. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2213 .

Schacter, D.L., K.A. Norman, and W. Koutstaal. 1998. The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory. Annual Review of Psychology 49: 289–318. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.289 .

Schacter, D.L., and E. Tulving. 1994. What are the memory systems of 1994? In Memory systems , ed. D.L. Schacter and E. Tulving, 1–38. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Schank, R.C., and R.P. Abelson. 1977. Scripts, plans, goals and understanding: An inquiry into human knowledge structures . Oxford: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Scoboria, A., D.L. Jackson, J. Talarico, M. Hanczakowski, L. Wysman, and G. Mazzoni. 2014. The role of belief in occurrence within autobiographical memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 143: 1242–1258. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034110 .

Sheldon, S., and B. Levine. 2016. The role of the hippocampus in memory and mental construction. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1369: 76–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13006 .

Sheldon, S., M.P. McAndrews, and M. Moscovitch. 2011. Episodic memory processes mediated by the medial temporal lobes contribute to open-ended problem solving. Neuropsychologia 49: 2439–2447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.04.021 .

Shine, J.M., P.G. Bissett, P.T. Bell, O. Koyejo, J.H. Balsters, K.J. Gorgolewski, C.A. Moodie, and R.A. Poldrack. 2016. The dynamics of functional brain networks: Integrated network states during cognitive task performance. Neuron 92: 544–554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.09.018 .

Spreng, R.N., W.D. Stevens, J.P. Chamberlain, A.W. Gilmore, and D.L. Schacter. 2010. Default network activity, coupled with the frontoparietal control network, supports goal-directed cognition. Neuroimage 53: 303–317 10.1016%2Fj.neuroimage.2010.06.016.

Squire, L.R., E.T. Rolls, M.K. Johnson, and R.L. Buckner. 2007. Memory systems. In Science of memory: Concepts , ed. H.L. Roediger, Y. Dudai, and S.M. Fitzpatrick, 338–364. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310443.003.0016 .

Squire, L.R., A.S. van der Horst, S.G.R. McDuff, J.C. Frascino, R.O. Hopkinse, and K.N. Mauldin. 2010. Role of the hippocampus in remembering the past and imagining the future. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 19044–19048. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1014391107 .

Szpunar, K.K., J.C.K. Chan, and K.B. McDermott. 2009. Contextual processing in episodic future thought. Cerebral Cortex 19: 1539–1548. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhn191 .

Szpunar, K.K., J.M. Watson, and K.B. McDermott. 2007. Neural substrates of envisioning the future. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104 : 642–647. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0610082104 .

Taylor, S.E., and S.K. Schneider. 1989. Coping and the simulation of events. Social Cognition 7: 174–194. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1989.7.2.174 .

Tolman, E.C. 1948. Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review 55: 189–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0061626 .

Tulving, E. 1972. Episodic and semantic memory. In Organization of Memory , ed. E. Tulving and W. Donaldson, 381–403. New York: Academic Press.

Tulving, E. 1985. Memory and consciousness. Canadian Psychologist 25: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0080017 .

Urmson, J.O. 1967. Memory and imagination. Mind 76 (301): 83–91.

van Mulukom, V., D.L. Schacter, M.C. Corballis, and D.R. Addis. 2013. Re-imagining the future: Repetition decreases hippocampal involvement in future simulation. PLoS One 8: e69596. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069596 .

Verfaellie, M., A.A. Wank, A.G. Reid, E. Race, and M.M. Keane. 2019. Self-related processing and future thinking: Distinct contributions of ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobes. Cortex 115: 159–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2019.01.028 .

Webb, C.E., I.C. Turney, and N.A. Dennis. 2016. What's the gist? The influence of schemas on the neural correlates underlying true and false memories. Neuropsychologia 93: 61–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.09.023 .

Weiler, J.A., B. Suchan, and I. Daum. 2010. Foreseeing the future: Occurrence probability of imagined future events modulates hippocampal activation. Hippocampus 20: 685–690. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.20695 .

Wiebels, K., D.R. Addis, D. Moreau, V. van Mulukom, K.E. Onderdijk, and R.P. Roberts. 2020. Relational processing demands and the role of spatial context in the construction of episodic future simulation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000831 .

Zacks, J.M., N.K. Speer, K.M. Swallow, T.S. Braver, and J.R. Reynolds. 2007. Event perception: A mind/brain perspective. Psychological Bulletin 133: 273–293. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.2.273 .

Zacks, J.M., and B. Tversky. 2001. Event structure in perception and conception. Psychological Bulletin 127: 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.1.3 .

Download references

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the editors of this Special Issue who also organized the Otago Mental Time Travel Symposium that served as inspiration for the paper, and the comments of anonymous reviewers. This work was supported thanks to funding from the Canada 150 Research Chairs Program.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Canada

Donna Rose Addis

Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

The School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Donna Rose Addis .

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Addis, D.R. Mental Time Travel? A Neurocognitive Model of Event Simulation. Rev.Phil.Psych. 11 , 233–259 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-020-00470-0

Download citation

Published : 30 April 2020

Issue Date : June 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-020-00470-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Autobiographical memory
• Default mode network
• Episodic memory
• Future thinking
• Hippocampus
• Imagination
• Medial prefrontal cortex
• Prospection
• Semantic memory
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

• Historical Events You Wish ...
• Realizations to Blow Your Mind
• Great Thoughts That Pop Up ...
• The Truth About Getting Older
• Superstitions You Secretly ...
• Historical Shower Thoughts ...
• Things Makings Us All Dumber
• Social Issues to Care About
• Things Worth a Little Extra...
• Signs Someone Is a Good Person
• Things Your Mom Was Right A...
• Greatest Duos of All Time
• Here Today, Obsolete Tomorrow
• The Days Of The Week, Ranked
• The Decades Of A Person's Life, Ranked By Peopl...
• Pop Culture Mysteries We're...
• Technically True Is Still True
• Simple Thoughts That Will O...
• TV & Movie Cliches That Nev...
• Thoughts You Can Never Unthink

Historical Events You Most Want To Go Back And See

Every history buff has considered the historical events they would want to witness—from the construction of the pyramids to the moon landing, the historical milestones on this list would have been amazing to see firsthand. And don't forget, woolly mammoths were still alive  when the pyramids were built, though you probably wouldn't spot one in Egypt.

And then there are all the historical mysteries you could solve with a little time travel. Who really shot JFK? Do the Illuminati control the world ? And what were the completely naked Ancient Greek Olympic games like?

So if you could go back to a moment in history, which would you choose, and why? Wars and battles might not be the best historical events to witness, but what about Hannibal crossing the Alps or the Gettysburg Address? Or would you choose to party with Marie Antoinette or watch Leonardo paint the Mona Lisa? These are some of the most significant historical events we'd want to go back in time to see in person.

The Building of the Great Pyramids At Giza

What Was It?

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , only the pyramids of Giza still stand. But they looked quite different when they were built around 2400 BCE. Then, the pyramids were encased in white limestone and may have been topped with a gold capstone . The tallest pyramid contains 2.3 million blocks of stone, and each averages about 2.5 tons, or 5,000 pounds.

Why It Would've Been Awesome To Experience:

How were the pyramids built? Were they constructed by slaves or farmers? And what did they look like when they were brand new? The pyramids are more than just marvels of engineering––they are also shrouded in mystery. A first-hand account would finally settle the age-old debate: was it aliens who actually built the pyramids ?

The Construction of Stonehenge

The 100 upright stones that make up Stonehenge  stand in a circle. For centuries, historians and visitors have wondered about the massive monument. In the twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth even speculated that the wizard Merlin built Stonehenge. Today, we know that it likely took 1,500 years to build Stonehenge, but the purpose of the monument is still a mystery. 

Was the massive stone monument just a burial ground, or did it serve other purposes? How did people move the enormous stones as far as 200 miles? And how was Stonehenge constructed, without even using the wheel? Stonehenge is one of the great mysteries in history, and by witnessing it first hand, you'd know all the answers.

The Ancient Greek Olympics

Fans of the winter and summer Olympics know that the modern games date back to 1896, but the Olympic Games  are much older than that––their roots go back 3,000 years to athletic competitions held in the Ancient Greek city of Olympia. Originally, the only event was a 192-meter footrace called the  stade,  which gives us the modern word "stadium." 

Fun fact: Roman Emperor Nero competed in an Olympic chariot race in 67 CE, and declared himself the winner even though he fell off his chariot during the event. And yes, the male Olympians during the ancient games competed in the buff . Apparently clothing just slowed them down.

The Moon Landing

On July 20, 1969, the first human set foot on the moon. The moon landing  was, according to Neil Armstrong, "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." NASA's amazing technological feat fulfilled President Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon and showed humans' ability to reach beyond our planet.

Half a billion people watched the moon landing live, but none of them saw Armstrong step onto the moon's surface in person. That would be a historical event worth witnessing, and would clear up all the conspiracy theories about whether or not the moon landing was faked.

The Birth of Jesus

Around the year zero in a manger in Bethlehem, a child was born. Jesus founded one of the most important religions in history , but it started with humble beginnings. As Christians believe, the adult Jesus practiced miracles, died on the cross, and was resurrected. And it all began with the nativity.

Admittedly, childbirth isn't typically a spectator event, but all the paintings  make the Nativity seem pretty amazing. And many would love to go back in time to meet Jesus, so why not check out his birth?

The Signing Of The Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence , an aspirational document asserting America's right to choose its own government. The founding document of the United States influenced revolutions around the world, including the French Revolution, and boldly made a case for inalienable rights.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal"—the United States might not always live up to Jefferson's lofty goals, but witnessing the moment that the country declared its independence would be pretty amazing.

The Wright Brothers Flying

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright took flight, coasting at 6.8 miles per hour for about 120 feet. The Wright Brothers made history with their flying machine. It almost happened three days earlier, but Wilbur stalled out and crashed the plane.

Fun fact: Wilber and Orville decided who would take the first flight with a coin toss. They managed four flights on that historic day, until a gust of wind tossed their flyer and damaged it. The take off was a major technological achievement in the history of mankind and a historical event worth witnessing first hand.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln's most famous speech was only 272 words long, but it encapsulated America's ideals. The Gettysburg Address  was delivered on November 19, 1863 at the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Lincoln's powerful address, beginning with "Four score and seven years ago," also introduced generations of schoolchildren to the archaic "score" as a measure of time.

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most important speeches in American history, and witnessing it live on a historically significant battlefield would be powerful. Plus, it would settle debates surrounding Lincoln's speaking voice. Was it, in fact, shrill and squeaky , as some have claimed?

An Original Shakespeare Play

William Shakespeare , the greatest playwright in the English language, wrote for the masses in Elizabethan England. But what were his plays like when they were first performed? The  raucous crowds  were almost another character in the show, and Shakespeare's stunning works were always crowd pleasers. 

The costumes, the stage, and the crowds of Romeo and Juliet ,  Hamlet , or maybe  Macbeth  would be incredible to see. Watching one of Shakespeare's plays performed live would be amazing, and maybe you'd get to see the Bard himself––he reportedly played the ghost of Hamlet's father. Just don't expect to see any women on stage.

Party With Marie Antoinette

The French aristocracy knew how to throw a good party, and few raged as hard as  Marie Antoinette . The queen's royal lifestyle, gilt with gold and dazzling luxuries, was so extreme it helped to provoke a revolution against the entire monarchy. But before the French Revolution brought it all crashing down, Marie Antoinette knew how to celebrate.

Marie Antoinette's wild masquerade parties featured extravagant gowns, jewels, champagne fountains, and towers of candies and cakes. Who wouldn't want to don a mask and join the soirée?

Watch Leonardo Paint The 'Mona Lisa'

It's the world's most famous painting. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa  might be in the Louvre today, but the artist completed the masterpiece between 1503 and 1519 when he lived in Florence. The Mona Lisa changed art for the next 500 years, making it one of the most influential works in history.

First, just watching Leonardo paint would be amazing. But witnessing the painting of the Mona Lisa would also solve a few historical mysteries. Who, exactly, was the woman who sat for Leonardo's portrait? And what's the story behind her mysterious smile?

The Harlem Renaissance

The music of Louis Armstrong, the words of Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes, the jazz clubs of Harlem—the Harlem Renaissance  turned a New York City neighborhood into a Black cultural mecca, stretching from the 1910s through the mid-1930s.

Why It Would've Been Awesome To Experience:

Speakeasies sold illegal liquor and boomed with the sound of jazz—Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller, and Cab Calloway performed in Harlem, putting a sound to W.E.B Du Bois's Black Pride movement. The sights and sounds of Harlem in the 1920s just call out to time travelers.

John F. Kennedy's Assassination

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Millions of Americans watched the horrific events on television and remember where they were that fateful day. But even decades later, conspiracy theorists still wonder who  really  shot JFK.

The bloody shooting would be terrible to witness in person, but it would provide important answers to the still-raging mystery behind who shot JFK. Was Lee Harvey Oswald really acting alone? What was happening on the grassy knoll? And was there a conspiracy to assassinate the president? 

Hannibal Crossing The Alps

In 218 BCE, one of the greatest generals in history led one of the greatest sneak attacks in history. Hannibal  kicked off the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome when he led a massive force of 100,000 troops and 40 war elephants across the Alps to invade Rome. His plan may have ultimately failed, but over 2,000 years later it is still remembered as one of the most astonishing military campaigns of all time.

Let's be honest: there are a lot of reasons to avoid going back to see wars. Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo , the downing of the Spanish Armada , or the attack on Pearl Harbor  were all momentous historical events—and they were all incredibly destructive. But if you're a fan of military history, seeing Hannibal lead a massive army, including elephants, across the snowy Alps would be amazing, and a lot safer than other war-related historical experiences. 

California's Gold Rush

In 1849, thousands of people descended on California, hoping to strike gold and become rich overnight. The Gold Rush of 1849  transformed America and the West Coast after James Wilson Marshall, who was building a water-powered sawmill, found flakes of gold at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. “It made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold," Marshall said. Within weeks, three quarters of the men in San Francisco were off to hunt for treasure.

The Gold Rush probably didn't  smell  great, but it was a crazy moment in history. The 49ers extracted $2 billion worth of gold during the Gold Rush—and time travelers might just manage to snatch a nugget or two to bring back.

• Historical Events

Whatcha thinkin' about? Instead of pennies for your thoughts, here are lists of interesting things to ponder while you gaze at your navel and explore the depths of your true self.

• Texas Brazos Trail Region
• Texas Forest Trail Region
• Texas Forts Trail Region
• Texas Hill Country Trail Region
• Texas Independence Trail Region
• Texas Lakes Trail Region
• Texas Mountain Trail Region
• Texas Pecos Trail Region
• Texas Plains Trail Region
• Texas Tropical Trail Region
• African American Heritage
• American Indian Heritage
• Asian Heritage
• European Heritage
• German Heritage
• Hispanic Heritage
• State Historic Sites
• Arts and Culture
• Courthouses
• Cowboy Culture
• Historic Businesses
• Historic Downtowns
• Historic Trails And Highways
• National Monuments and Landmarks
• Presidential History
• Sacred Places
• Scenic Drives
• Email Newsletter
• Historic Lodging
• Mobile Tours
• Printable Guides
• Themed Excursions
• Roadside Heritage
• Submit Your Event

Events Calendar

What will you do on your next trip? Texas has several fun upcoming festivals and events to add to your experience. Search by date, type of event, location or keyword below.

Create a Travel Plan

Browse our website for heritage sites and attractions, events, and more. Find things that pique your interest, and click the star icon next to the item. See them in the trip planner by the main menu to view or print them later.

Find Experiences

• Arts / Culture
• Family-Friendly
• History / Heritage
• Live Performance
• Arts & Crafts
• Brazos Trail Region

Forest Trail Region

Forts Trail Region

Hill Country Trail Region

• Independence Trail Region

Lakes Trail Region

Mountain Trail Region

• Pecos Trail Region

Plains Trail Region

Tropical Trail Region

Horror Film Series at the Historic Granada Theatre

207 E. Holland Ave. Alpine, Texas Website

Horror Film Series at the Historic Granada Theatre Granada Theatre 207 E. Holland Ave. Alpine, Texas

Port Isabel Lighthouse Easter Egg History Hunt

421 Queen Isabella Blvd Port Isabel, TX 78578 (956) 374-9003 Website

Port Isabel Lighthouse Easter Egg History Hunt 421 Queen Isabella Blvd Port Isabel, TX 78578

Kerr County Market Days & Hill Country Swap Meet

Kerr County Hill Country Youth Event Center - 3785 Hwy. 27 Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 459-6198 Website

Kerr County Market Days & Hill Country Swap Meet Kerr County Hill Country Youth Event Center - 3785 Hwy. 27 Kerrville, TX 78028

A Day at the Farm and Farmers Market

33 Herff Farm Boerne, TX 78006 (830) 249-4616 Website

A Day at the Farm and Farmers Market 33 Herff Farm Boerne, TX 78006

Pecan Grove School Open House

3410 Pecan Grove Rd, Fredericksburg Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (830) 685-3321 Website

Pecan Grove School Open House 3410 Pecan Grove Rd, Fredericksburg Fredericksburg, TX 78624

Fulton Mansion Annual Easter Egg Hunt

317 S. Fulton Beach Rd Rockport, TX 78382 (361) 729-0386

Fulton Mansion Annual Easter Egg Hunt 317 S. Fulton Beach Rd Rockport, TX 78382

PALESTINE FARMERS MARKET

813 W. Spring St. Palestine, TX 75801 (817) 637-2687 Website

PALESTINE FARMERS MARKET 813 W. Spring St. Palestine, TX 75801

EASTER LUNCH TRAIN AT TEXAS STATE RAILROAD

789 Park Road 70 Palestine, TX 75803 (855) 632-7729 Website

EASTER LUNCH TRAIN AT TEXAS STATE RAILROAD 789 Park Road 70 Palestine, TX 75803

Fort Concho Speaker Series — ​ “ The Total Solar Eclipse” & ​ “ Chief Joseph and the Long Trail”

630 S. Oakes San Angelo, TX 76903 (325) 657-4444 Website

Fort Concho Speaker Series - “The Total Solar Eclipse” & “Chief Joseph and the Long Trail” 630 S. Oakes San Angelo, TX 76903

ABC Pro Rodeo

2320 S. US Hwy 385 Levelland, TX 79336 (806) 777-1510 Website

ABC Pro Rodeo Mallet Event Center 2320 S. US Hwy 385 Levelland, TX 79336

2024 Totality Eclipse at Schreiner University

Schreiner University - 2100 Memorial Blvd. Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 613-8128 Website

2024 Totality Eclipse at Schreiner University Schreiner University - 2100 Memorial Blvd. Kerrville, TX 78028

KerrClipse 2024

Quiet Valley Ranch - 3876 Medina Hwy. Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 257-3600 Website

KerrClipse 2024 Quiet Valley Ranch - 3876 Medina Hwy. Kerrville, TX 78028

Watch a Dragon Devour the Sun Total Eclipse Watch Party

Ingram Events Park @ Old Ingram Loop Ingram, TX 78025 (830) 377-9838

Watch a Dragon Devour the Sun Total Eclipse Watch Party Ingram Events Park @ Old Ingram Loop Ingram, TX 78025

Texas Lions Camp Eclipse Celebration

Kerr County Hill Country Youth Event Center - 3785 Hwy. 27 Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 896-8500 Website

Texas Lions Camp Eclipse Celebration Kerr County Hill Country Youth Event Center - 3785 Hwy. 27 Kerrville, TX 78028

Uvalde Honey Festival

340 N. Getty Street Uvalde, TX 78801 18303339980 Website

Uvalde Honey Festival 340 N. Getty Street Uvalde, TX 78801

Under the Oaks — San Gabriel

802 San Marcos St Austin, TX 78702 (737) 226-1454 Website

Under the Oaks - San Gabriel 802 San Marcos St Austin, TX 78702

Lubbock’s First Friday Art Trail

Plains Trail Region 511 Ave. K Lubbock, Texas 79401 (806) 762-8606 Website

Lubbock's First Friday Art Trail Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts 511 Ave. K Lubbock, Texas 79401

Texas State Surfing Championship

33174 State Park Road 100 South Padre Island, TX 78597 (956) 761-3000 Website

Texas State Surfing Championship 33174 State Park Road 100 South Padre Island, TX 78597

Music Alley Eclipse Fest

100 Walnut St. Mansfield, TX 76063 (817) 728-3382 Website

Music Alley Eclipse Fest 100 Walnut St. Mansfield, TX 76063

Grand Prairie Farmers Market

120 W. Main Street Grand Prairie, TX 75050 (972) 237-4798 Website

Grand Prairie Farmers Market 120 W. Main Street Grand Prairie, TX 75050

Downtown Mesquite Farmers Market

100 W Front St. Mesquite , TX 75149 (972) 204-4938 Website

Downtown Mesquite Farmers Market 100 W Front St. Mesquite , TX 75149

Pre-Eclipse Party

119 Silent Wings Blvd. Terrell, TX 75160 (214) 551-1122 Website

Pre-Eclipse Party 119 Silent Wings Blvd. Terrell, TX 75160

The Ridge Marketplace- 13439 Ranch Road 783 S Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 896-0420 Website

Star Party The Ridge Marketplace- 13439 Ranch Road 783 S Kerrville, TX 78028

April 7, 2024, Acton Nature Center Community Lecture Series, ​ “ Let’s Talk About Solar Eclipses”

Lakes Trail Region 6430 Smoky Hill Ct., Suite #104 Granbury, TX 76049 (817) 326-6005 Website

April 7, 2024, Acton Nature Center Community Lecture Series, "Let's Talk About Solar Eclipses" 6430 Smoky Hill Ct., Suite #104 Granbury, TX 76049

Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Event

Lakes Trail Region 3700 Sparks Road The Colony , TX 75056 (972) 624-5253 Website

Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Event 3700 Sparks Road The Colony , TX 75056

Eclipse 2024 @ The Ridge Marketplace

Eclipse 2024 @ The Ridge Marketplace The Ridge Marketplace- 13439 Ranch Road 783 S Kerrville, TX 78028

Kerrville Eclipse Festival – ​ “ Dark in the Park”

Louise Hays Park - 202 Thompson Dr. Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 257-7300 Website

Kerrville Eclipse Festival – “Dark in the Park” Louise Hays Park - 202 Thompson Dr. Kerrville, TX 78028

Total Solar Eclipse 2024 at Stonehenge II

Hill Country Arts Foundation - 120 Point Theatre Rd. Ingram, TX 78025 (830) 367-5121 Website

Total Solar Eclipse 2024 at Stonehenge II Hill Country Arts Foundation - 120 Point Theatre Rd. Ingram, TX 78025

Total Solar Eclipse at the Sculpture Prayer Garden

The Coming King Sculpture Prayer Garden - 520 Benson Dr. Kerrville, TX 78028 Website

Total Solar Eclipse at the Sculpture Prayer Garden The Coming King Sculpture Prayer Garden - 520 Benson Dr. Kerrville, TX 78028

Total Eclipse of the Heard

Lakes Trail Region 1 Nature Place McKinney, TX 75069 (972) 562-5566 Website

Total Eclipse of the Heard 1 Nature Place McKinney, TX 75069

The Eclipse at Epic Central

2961 State Hwy 161 Grand Prairie, TX 75051 (972) 595-5400 Website

The Eclipse at Epic Central 2961 State Hwy 161 Grand Prairie, TX 75051

Fort Concho Speaker Series — ​ “ The Coming of the Railroad to the Concho Valley”

Fort Concho Speaker Series - “The Coming of the Railroad to the Concho Valley” 630 S. Oakes San Angelo, TX 76903

Fort Concho Campfire Story Night

Fort Concho Campfire Story Night 630 S. Oakes San Angelo, TX 76903

Historic Copano Cruise 2024

214 N Fulton Beach Rockport, TX 78358 (361) 727-9214 Website

Historic Copano Cruise 2024 214 N Fulton Beach Rockport, TX 78358

Jazz Wine Trains

Lakes Trail Region 705 S. Main St. Grapevine, TX 76051 (817) 410-3185 Website

Jazz Wine Trains 705 S. Main St. Grapevine, TX 76051

Heard Museum Native Plant Sale

Heard Museum Native Plant Sale 1 Nature Place McKinney, TX 75069

South Padre Island Crawfish Festival

7355 Padre Blvd. South Padre Island, TX 78597 Website

South Padre Island Crawfish Festival 7355 Padre Blvd. South Padre Island, TX 78597

New Vintage Wineries & Galleries Trail and Blessing of the Vines and Procession

815 S. Main St. Grapevine, TX 76051 (817) 410-3185 Website

New Vintage Wineries & Galleries Trail and Blessing of the Vines and Procession 815 S. Main St. Grapevine, TX 76051

Spring Boerne Handmade Market

282 N Main St Boerne, TX 78006 (210) 663-9046 Website

Spring Boerne Handmade Market 282 N Main St Boerne, TX 78006

Pollinator Day — Texas Science & Natural History Museum

2400 Trinity St Austin, TX 78712 (512) 471-1604 Website

Pollinator Day - Texas Science & Natural History Museum 2400 Trinity St Austin, TX 78712

Crawfish and Cannons Texas Forts Trail Wine Festival

114 Fort Circle New Castle, Texas 76372

Crawfish and Cannons Texas Forts Trail Wine Festival Fort Belknap 114 Fort Circle New Castle, Texas 76372

Results 1 - 48 of 233

Submit Your Event

We only use cookies that are necessary for this site to function to provide you with the best experience. Learn More

Quick Search

Location map, e-newsletter.

Sign up for the Texas Heritage Traveler—your quarterly Texas travel inspiration.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Sign In Sign Up
• 20 Historical Events We’d Go Back and Witness If Time Travel Was Real
• Player View

1. 30 January 1969, the Beatles playing on the roof of the Apple building in London. -galvinonthewing

2. i’d watch reactor 4 explode from very far away. and maybe in a special suit. -c_cooke1, 3. death/resurrection of jesus. let's see if the there is any basis behind christianity. i don't know of any other religion based on such a singular event. -imreverse_giraffe, 4. strasbourg 1518, to witness the event where the whole town succumbed to mass hysteria and danced themselves to death over 2 months. -tomr84, 5. the premier of beethoven’s 9th symphony in vienna. -ghost-lumos, 6. would love to see and hear dinosaurs roaming around our land. -rci_ancilla, 7. the collapse of the berlin wall. -thebk_1er, 8. for a long time, the mediterranean sea was cut off from the atlantic ocean and the rivers flowing into it were not enough to prevent it drying up completely. at some point in time, the ocean was able to cut an opening at gibraltar and millions of cubic meters of water poured into the basin. that, i would like to have seen. -comicsnerd, 9. when the golden gate bridge was finished, my father was one of the first to walk across it. he died when i was 8. would love to see him again. -gml0206, 10. a tour of library of alexandria before it was destroyed. -suvenpan, 11. as a geologist, the lake agassiz flood. during the last glacial period, over 12,000 years ago, there was a massive lake in the middle of the north american continent fed by glacial meltwater. this lake is now known as lake agassiz. at its peak, the lake was larger than all of the current great lakes combined . estimates put it at 440,000 square kilometers in area. most of that water was held in place by glacial and topographic dams. at the end of the last ice age, the largest ice body containing the lake to the east in hudson bay retreated / melted, causing the lake to drain almost completely - in less than nine months . a freshwater lake with tens of thousands of years of history and input, and more fresh water than all other freshwater bodies on the planet at that time combined, drained in less than a year. the flooding was likely unprecedented, carrying erratics (boulders) the size of small houses hundreds of miles away. as the water drained into hudson bay and other outlets, the global sea level rose by 1-3 meters. lake winnipeg, lake manitoba, red lake, and lake of the woods are the largest remnants of lake agassiz. -allfunandgaymes, 12. 1980 olympics at lake placid, ice hockey medal round, usa vs ussr. -ixprometheusix, 13. jfk assassination with a bunch of hi res cameras. -spazmanaut, 14. the mlk “i have a dream” speech. that speech always gave me chills. i’m a 3rd grade teacher and always show it to my students to end our lessons on mlk. i show it the friday before the mlk weekend. -deleted, 15. i would love to see the debut of a molière play at versailles. -leomarius, 16. assuming i have a safe vantage point on some kind of space ship, i choose the planetary impact that's believed to have given us the moon. -ancientsumeriangod, 17. i'd go back in time to watch neil armstrong step on the moon on tv. it's mankind's greatest achievement, and something i wish i could've been born 4 or 5 decades earlier to see. -mythicforgeftw, 18. the winged hussars charge it was so impressive that a battle nearby stopped just to watch them charge. -nighthawk0954, 19. the building of the pyramids. -essexenglishman, 20. queen at live aid in 1985, from the footage you can tell it was an amazing event but to be there and experience it must have been something else. -duldain92.

Share This Image

• REPLAY GALLERY

• NEXT GALLERY

• Olympic Memes

• Log in for Comments
• New! You can now add images to your comments! Click here for details!

Related Galleries

eBaum's Picks

• International

Baltimore bridge collapse

RFK Jr. announces VP pick

Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after ship collision

By Helen Regan , Kathleen Magramo , Antoinette Radford, Alisha Ebrahimji , Maureen Chowdhury , Rachel Ramirez , Elise Hammond , Aditi Sangal , Tori B. Powell and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN

Maryland transportation secretary says contractors were working on bridge at time of collapse

From CNN's Antoinette Radford

Maryland State Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told reporters there were workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the time of its collapse.

"We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us," he said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

Wiedefeld said the workers were "basically doing some concrete deck repair," but said they did not know how many vehicles were involved.

He added that the transport authority has set up a facility for family members of those who were believed to be on the bridge at the time of its collapse.

Baltimore fire chief: Sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace says authorities have detected vehicles submerged in the water.

“Our sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water,” said Wallace at a news conference on the collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge. “I don't have a count of that yet.”

He said emergency services are using sonar, drones and infrared technology as a part of their search for people and vehicles who may have fallen from the Key Bridge into the Patapsco River.

No indication of "terrorism" or intent in Baltimore bridge collapse, police chief says

From CNN’s Andy Rose

Baltimore Police said there was no evidence that the ship collision that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was intentional.

“There is absolutely no indication that there's any terrorism, that this was done on purpose,” Chief Richard Worley said at a news conference.

The FBI  said  that it was joining the investigation into the cause of the collision.

Rescue crews have determined there are vehicles in the Patapsco River following the bridge collapse.

“Our sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water,” said Fire Chief James Wallace. “I don't have a count of that yet.”

Wallace said they are waiting to make sure that the ship is secure and stable before investigators board it.

“Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that,” Mayor Brandon M. Scott said.

Cruises, cars and commodities: What to know about the Port of Baltimore

From CNN's Mark Thompson and Hanna Ziady

The collapse of the   Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River outside the Port of Baltimore threatens to disrupt shipping operations at a major US trade hub for autos, container traffic and commodities. Baltimore also has a cruise terminal.

Closer to the Midwest than any other port on the East Coast, Baltimore ranks first in the United States for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year. It was also the leading port for farming and construction machinery, as well as imported sugar and gypsum. It was second in the country for exporting coal.

Overall, Baltimore ranks as the 9th biggest US port for international cargo, handling a record 52.3 million tons, valued at $80.8 billion in 2023.

“The immediate focus is the rescue operation, but there will clearly be a highly-complex recovery phase and investigation to follow and we don't know what impact this will have on operations at the Port of Baltimore," said Emily Stausbøll, market analyst at Norway-based shipping analytics company Xeneta.

“While Baltimore is not one of the largest US East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains," she added.

Baltimore's cruise terminal serves ships operated by Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian. Cruises carrying more than 444,000 passengers departed from the port last year.

According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.

Rescue crews looking for at least seven people in Baltimore bridge collapse

Rescue operations are underway near the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, as crews look for people who fell into the Patapsco River.

“We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point, and we will continue to be for some time,” Wallace added.

Baltimore Fire says two people have been rescued from the river – one who was uninjured, and another in hospitalized “very serious condition.”

“This is an unthinkable tragedy,” Mayor Brandon Scott said. “We have to first and foremost pray for all of those impacted.”

Ship that collided with Baltimore bridge was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk 

From CNN's Alex Stambaugh in Hong Kong

The container ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday was chartered by Maersk and carrying their customers' cargo, the Danish shipping company told CNN.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," The company said in its statement.

The company, which has a full name of A.P. Moller - Maersk, said no company crew and personnel were onboard the vessel. It said the ship, DALI, is operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group. 

"We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed," the statement said. 

CNN is attempting to contact the owner and managers of the ship, including Synergy.

FBI Baltimore on the scene at the Key Bridge

FBI Baltimore personnel are on the scene at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, they have said in a post on X.

The agency said it was working "side by side with our local, state and federal partners."

Baltimore fire emergency chief says 2 people saved from water after Key Bridge collapse

The Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace says authorities rescued two people from the water this morning, one without injury and the other who has been transferred to hospital in a serious condition.

Authorities are continuing their search for upwards of seven people, Wallace says. But, he says that number could change as it is a "very large incident." Earlier on Tuesday, an official said as many as 20 people could be in the water.

Wallace added that the crew remains on board the ship, and are communicating with the US Coast Guard. He added that emergency services are looking into reports that there were workers on the bridge at the time of the incident.

Speaking at the press conference, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also described the incident as an “unthinkable tragedy,” and offered his prayers for all those affected, as well as his thanks to first responders.

Authorities share updates on Baltimore bridge collapse

Authorities are holding a news conference on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a large ship.

Divers and search and rescue teams are searching for people in the Patapsco River after several vehicles are believed to have fallen into the water, including one as large as a tractor-trailer, said Kevin Cartwright, director of communications of the Baltimore City Fire Department.

Please enable JavaScript for a better experience.

In order to use RunSignup, your browser must accept cookies. Otherwise, you will not be able to register for races or use other functionality of the website. However, your browser doesn't appear to allow cookies by default.

Click the “Accept Cookie Policy” button below to accept the use of cookies on your browser.

If you still see this message after clicking the link, then your browser settings are likely set to not allow cookies. Please try enabling cookies. You can find instructions at https://www.whatismybrowser.com/guides/how-to-enable-cookies/auto .

Time Travel Half-Marathon (and 5k/10k) - Tulsa

• Race Insurance
• Refund Policy

Thank you! Your message was posted to Facebook.

Please be advised that utilizing this text feature may result in additional SMS and data charges from your mobile service provider.

Event: Time Travel

Event: half marathon, event: kid's dash, event: 1 mile, age based pricing for 5k.

Age based pricing is automatically applied at checkout.

Age Based Pricing for 10k

Event: volunteer then run, event: virtual event, age based pricing for virtual event.

Enter your email address and we will send you instructions to reset your password if there is an account for that email. Check your spam folder if you do not receive it.

If you continue to use this site, you consent to use all cookies. We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Read how we use cookies and how you can control them by visiting our Privacy Policy .

If you continue to use this site, you consent to use all cookies. Learn More

We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Read how we use cookies and how you can control them by visiting our Privacy Policy .

2024 Solar Eclipse: The 13 Best Places to See the Event

T he 2024 solar eclipse is less than one month away, making it the ideal time plan exactly how you’ll see the incredible event. On April 8, a number of cities throughout Mexico , the United States, and Canada will experience brief moments of dawn- or dusk-like darkness right in the middle of the day. The natural phenomenon, known as a total solar eclipse, happens when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and blocks the entirety of sun’s face. According to NASA , there won’t be another total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044, making it all the more important to catch this one. Here, AD covers everything you need to know about the upcoming event, including the 13 best cities to experience the eclipse.

What exactly is a total solar eclipse?

There are a number of different types of eclipses, which offer different views of either the sun or moon. As NASA explains it, “A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth that either fully or partially blocks the sun’s light in some areas.” A total solar eclipse means the moon will completely block the sun’s face, and if you’re in the path of the eclipse, you’ll be able to see the sun’s corona and outer atmosphere, weather permitting. Other types of eclipses, like a partial solar eclipse, occur when the moon covers only some of the sun, resulting in a crescent shape.

How do people safely watch a total solar eclipse?

Not only are solar eclipses special because of their relative rarity, they’re unique in how they’re watched. For the few minutes when the moon is fully blocking the sun—know as totality—viewers can look directly at the sun without any eye protection. Any other time, including the hours before and after totality when you’ll see a partial eclipse, it’s important to wear protective eye gear, such as solar eclipse glasses. “As soon as you see even a little bit of the bright sun reappear after totality, immediately put your eclipse glasses back on or use a handheld solar viewer to look at the sun,” NASA explains.

How often do total solar eclipses happen?

Solar eclipses, of one kind or another, happen between two and five times a year. Total eclipses happen about once every 18 months. However, this doesn’t mean one will be visible from your home this often. According to the Natural History Museum, London , a total solar eclipse is viewable from any one place about once every 400 years. For example, the last total solar eclipse visible from the United States happened in 2017 and followed a track from Oregon towards South Carolina. This year, the solar eclipse’s path will start in Texas and move northeast towards Maine. The next total solar eclipse will happen in 2026 and will be visible from the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain.

How long will the total solar eclipses last?

Total solar eclipses can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. The difference in totality length has to do with how far apart the sun, moon, and Earth are at any given time, since the latter two bodies both orbit in elliptical paths.

When the Earth is furthest from the sun—making the star appear smaller—and the moon is closest to the Earth—which makes the moon look big—totality can last for over seven minutes. As Astronomy Mag reports, these circumstances will line up in about 160 years, when a solar eclipse on July 16, 2186, will see almost seven-and-a-half minutes of totality. On the other extreme, if the Earth is at its closest point to the sun and the moon is at its furthest point from Earth, humans won’t see a total solar eclipse, even if all of the celestial bodies are in line. Since totality is all about the perspective of the viewer, this is also why each city will experience the 2024 eclipse differently.

This year, totality will last for a little over four minutes in some areas, which is significantly more than the two minutes that people experienced during the 2017 eclipse. As NASA notes, “During the 2017 total solar eclipse, the moon was a little bit farther away from Earth than it will be during the upcoming total solar eclipse, causing the path of that eclipse to be a little skinnier.” Seven years ago, the path of totality—which shows which parts of the world will be able to see the total solar eclipse—was only about 62 to 71 miles wide. This year, that path ranges from 108 to 122 miles wide. “Meaning at any given moment this eclipse covers more ground,” NASA explains.

How to read maps showing the solar eclipse path

As noted, this year’s path of totality is about 110 miles wide. Cities closer to the center of the path will sustain total darkness longer than those on the edges. In addition to longer totality than in 2017, this year’s path of totality covers more densely populated areas than the previous one. This means more people should be able to experience the total solar eclipse.

Any part of the country that is not within the path may see a partial eclipse, and the closer a location is to the strip, the smaller the crescent of visible sun will be. In these locations, it won’t be safe to look directly at the eclipse without protective glasses or a viewing device. NASA has put together an interactive map , which allows viewers to see the eclipse timing in their city.

Where are the best places to see the 2024 total solar eclipse?

According to NASA , cities in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will experience the total solar eclipse. Parts of Mexico and Canada will also fall within the eclipse’s path. Read on for the best places to see the 2024 total solar eclipse.

Mazatlán, Mexico

Mexico’s pacific coast will be the first place in continental North America to experience the eclipse. Mazatlán, a popular resort city, is an ideal location to see the occurrence, as it is directly in the eclipse’s path. Totality will begin around 11:07 a.m. local time and last for four minutes and 17 seconds. Because it’s such an optimal place to see the 2024 solar eclipse, NASA is hosting a viewing event at Vidanta Mazatlán . Here, visitors will be able to watch screens showing telescope views of the eclipse in addition to other hands-on activities, such as projects for kids and touchable moon rocks.

Torreón, Mexico

Located more centrally in the country, the solar eclipse will also be visible from Torreón. Totality will start just before 12:19 p.m. local time and last for four minutes and 12 seconds. A partial eclipse will also be visible before and after totality, starting at 11:44 a.m. and ending at 1:54 p.m.

Kerrville, Texas

Part of Texas Hill Country, Kerrville is a prime location to watch the 2024 eclipse. Near the Mexican border, it will be among the first US cities to experience totality, which will begin at 1:32 p.m. and last for almost four and a half minutes. Austin and Dallas are also in the path of totality, but will only experience the darkness for about two minutes and a little under four minutes, respectively. NASA is also hosting an event here, which will take place in Louise Hays Park and include live music, speakers, and programming for kids.

Russellville, Arkansas

Russellville, about 85 miles east of Little Rock, will experience four minutes and 12 seconds of totality, starting at 1:50 p.m. The city has planned a number of exciting programming for the historic event, including a solar eclipse festival and a concert with Grammy-winner Rhonda Vincent.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Located along the Mississippi River, Cape Girardeau is one of the best places in Missouri to watch the 2024 solar eclipse. According to NASA’s map, totality will last for a little over four minutes, beginning at 1:58 p.m. Head to Old Town Cape, where the city is hosting a block party on the day.

Carbondale, Illinois

Informally known as Little Egypt—possibly because the area delivered grains to northern parts of the state during the 1800s famine or because the southern tip of Illinois is similar to the Nile delta region in Egypt—Carbondale will experience four minutes and 10 seconds of totality, beginning at 1:59 p.m. The city also experienced totality during the 2017 eclipse, though it will see a longer dark period this time around. Home of Southern Illinois University, the school is hosting public viewing at its football stadium.

Bloomington, Indiana

Much of central and southern Indiana will experience totality during the 2024 solar eclipse, but Bloomington, largely a college town and home to Indiana University, will be among the best places in the Hoosier state to watch the event, since totality will last for about four minutes. The town is home to Indiana University, which is among our list of the most beautiful college campuses in America. Spend the afternoon strolling through the campus’s Gothic- and Romanesque-inspired buildings, and then catch the eclipse at 3 p.m. Indianapolis, the state’s capital, is another good city to watch the eclipse, but totality will last for less time, about three minutes and 47 seconds.

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland won’t be in a solar eclipse’s path of totality again until 2444 , making it a once in a lifetime experience for any locals hoping to watch the eclipse from their hometown. The city will experience maximum darkness at 3:15 p.m, which will last for just under four minutes. To commemorate the moment, the Great Lake Science Center is hosting a Total Eclipse Fest on April 6 through April 8. The free outdoor event will include speakers, concerts, performances, and hands-on science activities.

Erie, Pennsylvania

Only a small portion of northern Pennsylvania will be within the path of totality. Erie, located along the shores of the lake of the same name, will be one of the best places in the state to see the eclipse. Totality will last for three minutes and 42 seconds, starting at 3:16 p.m. The local government has put together a map of public parks and other viewing locations to watch the spectacle.

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York, will see three minutes and 46 seconds of total darkness, beginning at 3:18 p.m. There are a number of public “ watch parties ” happening in the city, which the government has compiled for visitors and locals. Midcentury-modern architecture fans may want to use the day to visit Graycliff, a Frank Lloyd Wright–designed estate, which is hosting a special open house on April 8, allowing guests to watch the eclipse from the property.

Niagara Region, Ontario

Small parts of Canada will also witness total darkness during the 2024 eclipse. The Niagara region is the best place to see totality, which will start at 3:19 p.m. and last for three minutes and 15 seconds. Montreal will also experience totality, but only for a little over one minute.

Burlington, Vermont

Much of New England will miss out on totality during the 2024 eclipse, as the path will only cover parts of northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Burlington is among the best places for those in the region to travel to, as it will experience three minutes and 19 seconds of darkness, starting at 3:26 p.m.

Houlton, Maine

Maine is the northern most place in the United States to see the total eclipse in 2024, also making it the last place in the country to experience totality. Houlton will be among the best places in the state to watch the sight, and darkness will begin at 3:32 p.m. and last for three minutes and 20 seconds.

• The Story Behind the Many Ghost Towns of Abandoned Mansions Across China
• Inside Sofía Vergara’s Personal LA Paradise
• Inside Emily Blunt and John Krasinski’s Homes Through the Years
• Take an Exclusive First Look at Shea McGee’s Remodel of Her Own Home
• Notorious Mobsters at Home: 13 Photos of Domestic Mob Life
• Shop Amy Astley’s Picks of the Season
• Modular Homes: Everything You Need to Know About Going Prefab
• Shop Best of Living—Must-Have Picks for the Living Room
• Beautiful Pantry Inspiration We’re Bookmarking From AD PRO Directory Designers
• Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now.
• Browse the  AD PRO Directory to find an  AD -approved design expert for your next project.

How to stay safe during the April 8 solar eclipse

Here's how to protect your eyes and stay safe during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

1. Get certified eclipse glasses ahead of the event

2. know when to use solar eclipse glasses, 3. prepare for backcountry travel, 4. pay attention to weather and conditions, 5. stay safe in cities, 6. don't get lost, and avoid traffic jams.

A solar eclipse will be visible across North America on April 8 . 

Everyone in the U.S. will see at least a partial solar eclipse , but only those within the 115-mile-wide (185 kilometers) path of totality will witness the sun's face completely blocked by the moon's shadow for up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds. 

Only during totality — when the sun's face is completely blocked — is it safe to look at the totally eclipsed sun's corona with the naked eye. At all other times, including during the partial phase of the eclipse, you must wear certified solar eclipse glasses to view the sun. 

There are some safety issues to be aware of at other times, too.  Here are six tips to ensure a safe and enjoyable viewing of the solar eclipse.  

Related: How to observe the sun safely (and what to look for)  

Solar eclipse glasses are plentiful and inexpensive. Buy them before stocks run low, and get them only from this list of verified suppliers of safe solar filters and viewers on the American Astronomical Society's AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force website. Only then can you be sure that they comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard, which means they reduce visible sunlight to safe and comfortable levels and block all but a tiny fraction of solar UV and IR radiation. 

Related: Solar eclipse glasses: Where to buy the best, high-quality eyewear

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Do NOT use sunglasses, solar filters meant for cameras and telescopes, smoked glass, welder's goggles, photographic or X-ray film, potato-chip bags or DVDs to view the partially eclipsed sun . None of these methods are safe. 

You can use solar eclipse glasses to look at the sun anytime. Typically, however, solar eclipse glasses are used to view the sun from the moment the moon starts to cross it — a time known as first contact. You must use solar eclipse glasses to look at the eclipse whenever the sun is only partially covered, which is the entire time on April 8 for most of North America. 

Although the path of totality on April 8 will include several major cities and metropolitan areas, it crosses a lot of backcountry. Many people will chase clear skies, which could take them to areas they hadn't planned on visiting. Remote parts of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, in particular, are short on facilities and gas stations. So bring everything you need, including a full fuel tank and extra food, water, cash and toilet paper. 

In April, you can expect the unexpected, with everything from snow in the Northeast to tornadoes in the Midwest. In remote areas of the northeastern U.S. and Canada, the mountains, lakes and forests may provide a beautiful backdrop, but conditions in the backcountry that time of year can be difficult. 

Related: Solar eclipse 2024 weather prospects: Q&A with an expert

"Since visitors may not be familiar with the area's ever-changing weather and early spring conditions, our most important role is to share important information about being safe and well-prepared and about the planned events throughout the region," representatives from the Adirondacks' Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) said in a statement . 

ROOST encourages people  to avoid mountain trails and waters. Read up on the climate along the eclipse track , look at weather forecasts and decide the best place to watch the eclipse the day before the event.

If you decide to watch the eclipse from a city sidewalk — perhaps even during a lunch break at work — then watch out. Wandering into roads and other dangerous situations is easier than you might think when you're looking through solar eclipse glasses. The best, easiest and safest eclipse-observing site is an open space or park, which will likely have a much better view of the eclipse than city streets, where buildings could easily block the view. 

The biggest cities inside the path are Mazatlán and Torreón, Mexico; San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Hamilton, Ontario; Montreal Quebec. 

Read more: Total solar eclipse April 2024: 10 of the biggest cities within the path of totality

Relocating at the last minute in search of clear weather is not particularly recommended unless the roads are clear and you have multiple backup plans. An excellent way to monitor the traffic situation both before and after the eclipse is to use Google Maps or similar apps to monitor live traffic information. 

Related: Solar eclipse jam: How to avoid getting stuck in traffic on April 8, 2024

However, you need to know your destination. A great way to begin your research is to use an interactive eclipse map and note the eclipse schedules for various locations in advance. Fred Espenak's Road Atlas for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 and Michael Zeiler's Field Guide to the 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipses ensure you have a spiral-bound hard copy of the path of totality in case you lose your cellphone connection. A great option is to download the Solar Eclipse Timer App , which provides audio commentary on exactly what to expect and when to expect it and instantly tells you if you're inside the path of totality. 

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Jamie is an experienced science, technology and travel journalist and stargazer who writes about exploring the night sky, solar and lunar eclipses, moon-gazing, astro-travel, astronomy and space exploration. He is the editor of  WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com  and author of  A Stargazing Program For Beginners , and is a senior contributor at Forbes. His special skill is turning tech-babble into plain English.

April 8 total solar eclipse could bring uptick in fatal car crashes, scientists caution

How long will April's total solar eclipse last?

How are extreme "blue supergiant" stars born? Astronomers may finally know

Most Popular

By Rebecca Sohn March 26, 2024

By Robert Lea March 26, 2024

By Daisy Dobrijevic March 26, 2024

By Andrew Jones March 26, 2024

By Mike Wall March 25, 2024

By Jacob York March 25, 2024

By Daisy Dobrijevic March 25, 2024

By Alexander Cox March 25, 2024

By Jeff Spry March 25, 2024

• 2 Euclid 'dark universe' telescope's vision restored by deicing campaign
• 3 April 8 total solar eclipse could bring uptick in fatal car crashes, scientists caution
• 4 Watch 'Doctor Who' visit the Victorian Era and the age of dinosaurs in new Season 14 trailer (video)
• 5 'Apollo: When We Went the Moon' exhibit lands at NYC's Intrepid Museum

Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

The best things in life are free.

Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush).

Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

• Things to Do
• Food & Drink
• Time Out Market
• Coca-Cola Foodmarks
• Los Angeles

Get us in your inbox

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

Solar eclipse 2024 warnings: here’s the full list you need to know ahead of April 8

From school closings to driving warnings, here’s how to prepare for the eclipse

The 2024 total solar eclipse is just a few weeks away, and anticipation is growing for the big event. No doubt you’ve already made plans for how and when to watch the eclipse , perhaps even making travel plans to head to one of the best states to watch the eclipse . But recently, a number of eclipse warnings have been issued. No, these warnings are not due to any danger caused by the eclipse itself, they’ve been issued in order to prepare residents in the path of totality for the influx of eclipse-chasers to their cities and towns. It’s always good to be prepared, so grab your eclipse glasses and read on for everything you need to know.

When is the 2024 solar eclipse?

The 2024 solar eclipse will take place Monday, April 8, 2024.

What emergency warnings have been issued?

Most of the U.S. will witness at least a partial eclipse on April 8, but those lucky cities and towns in the path of totality will experience nearly five minutes of darkness during the event. Given the rarity of this event, millions of people are expected to be watching, whether from their own homes or traveling somewhere to see it.

The first major warning issued is for drivers. It seems obvious, but the Federal Highway Administration has issued a warning: don’t watch and drive . "Don't watch the eclipse while driving, and don't stop on the interstate or highway shoulder," said Shailen Bhatt, the Federal Highway Administrator, in a briefing on Friday. "Please, plan ahead to arrive early and, if you can, stay put to avoid traffic congestion." Some schools are even closing due to potential transportation issues related to traffic and crowds.

Crowds of tourists heading to areas of totality like Texas, Kentucky, Ohio and New York are the root of the other major warning to stock up on food, supplies and gas . While it sounds sinister, this is merely a recommendation for residents in these eclipse hotspots, as the influx of tourists snapping up groceries and gas for their visits could affect residents’ regular routines.

The FAA has also issued a warning for flights and airports . Travelers might experience delays or disruptions due to congestion as special air traffic procedures are to be implemented during the eclipse. Flights will not be affected by the eclipse itself or the darkness, but the FAA expects an increase in air traffic levels. Delta, for example, is offering path of totality flights that will allow passengers to experience the eclipse at 30,000 feet, with enhanced views from an A220-300 aircraft's large windows.

Why have there been so many warnings about the solar eclipse?

Because of the excitement surrounding this total solar eclipse—the next one visible in the U.S. will not be until 2044—many people are eager to experience totality. Data shows that hundreds of thousands of people will be traveling to areas in the path of totality. Many of these cities and towns are not used to this many people arriving all at once. Officials want to ensure everyone is prepared to experience the eclipse safely.

How to view the solar eclipse safely

Obviously, the first rule is “Don’t look directly into the sun,” even when it’s completely covered. The safest way to view the eclipse is to wear solar viewing glasses, AKA “eclipse glasses.” These glasses are readily available, and some local organizations may give them away for free .

• Gerrish Lopez Contributor, New Orleans

Share the story

An email you’ll actually love

Discover Time Out original video

• Press office
• Investor relations
• Work for Time Out
• Editorial guidelines
• Privacy notice
• Do not sell my information
• Cookie policy
• Accessibility statement
• Terms of use
• Copyright agent
• Modern slavery statement
• Manage cookies
• Advertising

Time Out products

• Time Out Worldwide

Advertisement

How the Key Bridge Collapsed in Baltimore: Maps and Photos

By Weiyi Cai ,  Agnes Chang ,  Lauren Leatherby ,  Lazaro Gamio ,  Leanne Abraham and Scott Reinhard

On Tuesday, a major bridge in Baltimore collapsed into the water seconds after it was struck by a cargo ship, sending vehicles on the bridge into the river below. The ship lost power and issued a mayday call shortly before it hit the bridge.

The ship, a 948-foot-long cargo vessel called Dali, was about a half hour into its journey toward Colombo, Sri Lanka, when it hit a main pillar of the bridge. All crew members are safe, according to the ship’s owners.

Follow our live coverage .

A mayday call from the ship gave officials enough time to stop traffic at both ends of the bridge. The waters where the bridge collapsed are about 50 feet deep. By Tuesday morning, six construction workers who had been fixing potholes on the bridge remained missing as divers and other emergency workers on boats and helicopters continued to search for them. Two others had been rescued, and one was in the hospital.

Francis Scott

Patapsco River

The ship left the Port

of Baltimore around

1 a.m. on Tuesday.

Where impact occurred

Direction of the ship

The ship hit the

bridge at 1:28 a.m.

The ship hit the bridge at 1:28 a.m.

Where impact

Source: Spire Global

The New York Times; satellite image by Google Earth

The lights of the ship flickered on and off as it lost power in the minutes before the ship changed bearing and hit the bridge.

Ship approached from

the Port of Baltimore

Road repair crews

Ship changed heading

as it neared pillar

Ship hit pillar

Southern and central spans

of bridge began to collapse within

seconds of impact

Northern span began to

collapse seconds later

Within 30 seconds of impact,

the central part of bridge had

entirely collapsed.

Source: StreamTime Live via YouTube

Timestamps are from StreamTime Live video.

The New York Times

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was opened in 1977 and carried more than 12.4 million vehicles last year. The bridge was one of the three major ways to cross the Patapsco River and formed part of Baltimore’s beltway.

The Port of Baltimore is a major trade hub that handled a record amount of foreign cargo last year. It is an especially important destination — the nation’s largest by volume last year — for deliveries of cars and light trucks.

Ship impact

To Chesapeake Bay

Sources: Maryland Port Administration, OpenStreetMap, MarineTraffic

Note: Ship positions are as of 2:46 p.m. Eastern time.

Overall, Baltimore was the 17th biggest port in the United States in 2021, ranked by total tons, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The bridge collapse brought marine traffic there to a standstill, with seven cargo or tanker ships stranded in the harbor as of Tuesday afternoon.

Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency for Maryland and said that his office was in close communication with Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. transportation secretary. The White House issued a statement saying that President Biden had been briefed on the collapse.

Erin Schaff/The New York Times

• Share full article

Baltimore's Key Bridge collapses after ship strike; construction crew missing: Live updates

BALTIMORE − A massive search effort stretched into Tuesday afternoon for six construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore when it was struck by a cargo ship and collapsed into the frigid Patapsco River, shutting down a critical artery for East Coast shipping .

Around 1:30 a.m. a Singapore-flagged vessel named Dali struck the Key Bridge as it was leaving the Port of Baltimore, causing the span to collapse in seconds. Officials said the crew warned of a power issue and sent out a "mayday" before the collision. Footage of the incident shows the cargo ship smash into one of the columns before the bridge snapped, hit the water and partially fell on the ship, where a burst of flames and smoke could be seen rising into the night sky.

Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of impact and plunged into the river, which was measured Tuesday at 48 degrees, cold enough to cause hypothermia. There were multiple contractors on the bridge who were repairing potholes, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said. So far two people have been rescued. One was unharmed and the other remains in "very serious condition," he said.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at an afternoon news conference the agency will lead the investigation, but that she would not provide information on fatalities or injuries from the incident, leaving that to local authorities.

Asked the priority beyond the search-and-rescue operation being conducted by the Coast Guard, she said, “Right now it’s about people. It’s about families and addressing the needs of those that were impacted, that’s the focus.''

The ship's crew remained on the Dali, which needed to be assessed for damage before rescuers could board it, said James Wallace, chief of the Baltimore City Fire Department. The vessel was carrying cargo for the major shipping company Maersk and was headed for Sri Lanka.

A senior U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY the ship apparently lost power a few minutes before striking the bridge. A federal report has confirmed that version of events , saying the crew lost its ability to control the vessel.

Developments:

∎  The University of Maryland Medical Center's trauma center treated one patient from the collapse who has been discharged, Michael Schwartzberg, the medical center's spokesperson, said in an email. Schwartzberg declined to say more about the person's injuries, citing patient privacy concerns.

∎ Dr. David Efron, the center’s chief of trauma, said falling from the bridge − with clearance of more 185 feet − into 48-degree water would present life-threatening risks. Being submerged for more than an hour in water at that temperature is “almost invariably going to not be survivable.”

∎  The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to hold a news conference about its investigation into the incident Tuesday afternoon.

∎ Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott issued a state of emergency to better mobilize resources and work quickly to "address this crisis," he said in a post on X . The governor of Maryland issued a state of emergency earlier Tuesday.

Crew lost control as propulsion deserted ship, report says

The Dali lost propulsion leaving port and its crew lost control of the ship, prompting the crew to alert Maryland officials of a possible collision, an unclassified Department of Homeland Security report revealed Tuesday.

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to USA TODAY that the DHS cybersecurity agency is working with federal, state and local officials "to understand the potential impacts of this morning’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge."

This was not the Dali's first harsh encounter with a pier, and that time its leadership was determined to be at fault. It's too early to know what caused Tuesday's accident.

The cargo ship that  struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge  collided with a shipping dock in Belgium in 2016. That incident occurred as the Dali was leaving port in Antwerp and hit a loading pier made of stone, causing damage to the ship’s stern, according to the VesselFinder.com website, which tracks ships across the world. An investigation determined a mistake made by the ship’s master and pilot was to blame.

No one was injured in that crash, although the ship required repair and a full inspection before being returned to service. The pier – or berth – was also seriously damaged and had to be closed.

− Josh Meyer, Emily Le Coz and Claire Thornton

What did the most recent inspection report say about the bridge?

Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was listed in overall fair condition in 2021, the most recent inspection report in the Federal Highway Administration’s  National Bridge Inventory  at the time of its  collapse early Tuesday morning . 

However, the database noted that, “Bank protection is in need of minor repairs. River control devices and embankment protection have a little minor damage. Banks and/or channel have minor amounts of drift.” 

Other structural elements showed  “some minor deterioration”  but were otherwise listed in satisfactory condition.

− Cecilia Garzella and Yoonserk Pyun

'We're with you': Biden says federal government will rebuild bridge

President Joe Biden said he intends for the federal government to cover the entire cost to rebuild the Key Bridge, and he committed not to leave “until this job gets done.”

“We're with you. We're going to stay with you as long as it takes,” Biden said Tuesday afternoon from the White House Roosevelt Room.

Biden said he spoke with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and other local and state officials about the bridge’s collapse, and said he would visit the site in the future. “I told them we're going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency − I mean all the federal resources. And we're going to rebuild that port together.”

Biden said eight people remain unaccounted for, but the figure might change. Two people were rescued. "Everything so far indicates that his was a terrible accident,” Biden said, adding there’s no reason to believe it was intentional.

“Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident and all the families, especially those waiting for news of their loved ones right now,” Biden said. “I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime.”

Biden said the ongoing rescue operation remains the top priority but relayed that he told Moore he has directed his team to “move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible."

− Joey Garrison

Crewman reports all on board Dali are safe

This past weekend, Andrew Middleton took the ship's captain and a crewman shopping at a nearby Walmart. Since 9/11, international crews have to be escorted by a vetted person through most port areas, and Middleton said it's fairly common for crews like the Dali's to request assistance from the Apostleship of the Sea Baltimore Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center, where he is the director. The group is part of the Catholic Church's Archdiocese of Baltimore.

"They were by all appearances in good spirits," Middleton said, and they chatted in his van about the ship's planned 28-day voyage around the Horn of Africa to Sri Lanka. Middleton said crews usually buy personal toiletries and snacks before long trips.

Middleton woke up Tuesday morning to the shocking news the ship hit the bridge, and he immediately messaged one of the crewmen via WhatsApp. "My question to him was, 'Is everyone OK?' And the answer was, 'Yes sir, everyone is safe,'" Middleton told USA TODAY.

The crew is still aboard the ship while authorities assess the situation. Middleton said he's prepared to send them any supplies they need if they're stuck aboard for an extended period. And he said he's making plans to help them once they're freed and returned to shore. He said he expects the Dali will be towed back into the harbor and docked for a damage assessment. Middleton added that he worries both about the missing workers from the bridge and also the port workers who may be temporarily unemployed if the harbor gets shut down.

"Obviously, this incident has a large impact on the port community,'' he said. "If this extends a long period of time, we're going to have longshoreman and stevedores who are not working, tugboat crews who are not working. It has the potential, if it becomes a drawn-out event, to affect many lives."

− Trevor Hughes

Commuter finds sight of damaged bridge 'devastating to watch'

Charlotte Robinson's commute from her home in Delaware to her accounting job in Washington, D.C., took a detour Tuesday morning, when driving over the Francis Scott Key Bridge wasn't an option. In the past she figured that route was safe, but the bridge's collapse sparked difficult discussions with her colleagues who commute.

"It was devastating to watch,'' Robinson said of the crumpled bridge after it was hit by a 985-foot-long cargo ship. "And you have to ask yourself, if that was me, what would my plan be? How would I try to survive this, if I was trapped, if my car went into the water?”

Robinson said she often sees ships passing under the bridge during her morning commute; in the evenings, when she’s on her way home, there are usually fewer boats. Tuesday, she said, “You could see all these boats, just lined up because they had no place to go.”

Another common sight during her commute was construction workers both on the bridge and below it, sometimes hanging over the water in harnesses. Her thoughts turned to those workers as she watched the news Tuesday in her office. "I almost couldn't breathe watching the news," she said.

− Phaedra Trethan

'It's devastating to the city'

Greg Trenchard, 43, awoke Tuesday to a flurry of text messages and missed calls from his out of state relatives checking in on him after hearing about the Key Bridge collapse.

“I’ve driven over it 100 times and now to see that it’s gone is pretty crazy,” he said Tuesday.

Trenchard, an auditor, said he then tried to make his way to Fort Armistead Park, where he’d come many times before to take photos of the bridge at sunrise and sunset. But the normally quick drive took nearly 40 minutes due to the traffic detours, and a police roadblock next to Royal Farms, a convenience store, about a mile and half from the park stopped him from getting any closer to the scene.

“It’s a blow,” he said of the collapse. “It’s devastating to the city, it’s devastating to port traffic and everything they’re trying to do to revitalize the shipping industry in Maryland and keep that going.”

– N'dea Yancey-Bragg

Air, land and water search underway

Multiple local, state and federal agencies are coordinating the massive search, which spans a vast section of the river – both above and below the surface of the water – and the ship itself, Wallace said. Divers, helicopters and sonar technology were being used and had located several vehicles submerged in the river, which is about 50-feet-deep where the bridge collapsed.

"This water is current influenced, so right now we think the tide is coming back in," he said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he is working with an interagency team to "quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration."

"This is an unthinkable tragedy," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference.

Expert says river current makes search more difficult

Jim Bellingham, the executive director for the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy and expert in marine robotics lives in nearby Fells Point, and talked to USA TODAY about some of the challenges faced by rescuers.

“Nothing is staying put in the ocean,” he said. “Everything is moving” in the Patapsco River, a tidal estuary, which presents just one difficulty for rescue efforts. Rescuers would have to determine the speed and direction of the current to figure out where to search – toward Baltimore Harbor, or out toward the Chesapeake Bay.

Bellingham said it’s likely any workers who may have been on the bridge would have been wearing reflective vests and even flotation devices that would improve visibility in the dark river. They might also have flares, and are more easily spotted by rescue helicopters.

Rescuers are using sonar, lights, cameras and robotic machinery as well as human divers, but Bellingham said divers would face their own risks, as the wreckage might not be stable.

The longer the search goes on, the less likely rescuers are to find survivors, given the temperature of the water, and the likelihood of people being trapped with little to no air. But Baltimore, with many Navy and Coast Guard facilities and military contractors nearby, might be as well prepared to deal with the disaster as any place.

“Their job is to rescue people,” Bellingham said. “They want to believe they can do that, and there’s a tendency not to want to give up.”

– Phaedra Trethan

Cargo ship was headed for Sri Lanka

The container vessel was chartered by the major shipping company Maersk and was carrying its cargo, according to a statement from the company. When it crashed into the bridge, no Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel, which is operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group and owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Pte.

The Dali was slated to arrive April 22 in Sri Lanka, according to MarineTraffic, a global ship tracking service.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said in a statement. "We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed."

Synergy Marine Corp said the Dali collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Erin Palmer said at a news conference Tuesday that the agencies remain focused on search-and-rescue. She did not comment on the crew of the ship or provide additional details about the collision.

All vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore was suspended until further notice, but the port is still open for truck transports, Wiedefeld said. Traffic, meanwhile, is being diverted from the area around the Key Bridge.

Baltimore port closed to ships 'until further notice'

Shortly after the bridge collapse, the Port of Baltimore suspended vessel traffic “until further notice,” according to its website.

“This does not mean the Port of Baltimore is shut down. We are still processing trucks inside of our terminals,” the statement said.

But Bloomberg reported that the port “looks to be out of commission indefinitely.”

At least 40 ships are now more or less trapped inside the port, according to Reuters. At least 30 other ships planned to arrive there.

“They will likely have to reroute shipping to other ports on the East Coast,” said Kevin Linderman, a professor and supply chain expert at Pennsylvania State University. “However, this will put additional demand on these ports, and shippers may not be able to access US markets” as efficiently, he said.

“One critical question is, can the other ports handle the products that were destined to Baltimore?”

– Daniel de Visé

Will the Baltimore bridge collapse impact cruises?

Baltimore is a destination for several major cruise lines. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, the industry’s leading trade group, published itineraries in the 2024 calendar year include a dozen ships making 115 stops in Baltimore.

Royal Caribbean and Carnival have April sailings that could be impacted by the bridge collapse, according to their websites. 

Carnival told USA TODAY it was premature to comment on impacts to future sailings.

American Cruise Lines has roundtrip sailings from Baltimore scheduled in May, according to its website. The cruise line told USA TODAY their schedules remain unaffected but will make adjustments if needed to future cruises.

Norwegian Cruise Line doesn’t appear to have any Baltimore sailings until September.

– Eve Chen and Nathan Diller

Will the port shutdown affect consumer goods, prices?

Several big firms have distribution warehouses near the port, including Amazon and FedEx, one analyst noted in a tweet on X.  

Even so, some analysts predict only a minimal impact on the movement of goods up and down the East Coast from the bridge collapse.

Baltimore’s port holds just 4% of all East Coast trade volume, according to S&P Global. New York’s port, by contrast, does 38% of that business.

Yet, the port offers the deepest harbor in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, is closer to the Midwest than any other East Coast port, and is within an overnight drive of one-third of the US population, according to the port website .

The port boasts five public and 12 private terminals. In 2023, it ranked first in the nation in handling automobiles and light trucks. 

“For the American consumer, the biggest impact will be felt in terms of imported motor vehicles,” said Jason Miller, a business professor at Michigan State University. If sales remain strong, he said, “we could see inventories drop on the lots of dealers that sell imported vehicles until alternative arrangements can be made. This could increase motor vehicle prices for some makes and models.”

Alternate routes around collapsed Baltimore bridge

The Maryland Transportation Authority was suggesting drivers take Interstate 95 or Interstate 895 as alternatives to the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge along Interstate 695.

“I-695 Outer Loop closed at MD 10 (exit 2) and Inner Loop closed at MD 157/Peninsula Exp (exit 43),” MDTA said in a post on X.

Drivers could take several other, longer routes around Baltimore, but I-95 (Fort McHenry Tunnel) and I-895 (Baltimore Harbor Tunnel) are the most direct alternatives across the water.

There are few exceptions.

MDTA notes, vehicles carrying hazardous materials, including more than 10 pounds of propane, are not allowed in the tunnels. Additionally, vehicles more than 13-feet and 6-inches high or 8-feet wide may not use the 1-895 Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Vehicles more than 14-feet and 6-inches high or 11-feet wide may not use the I-95 Fort McHenry Tunnel.

Those vehicles should use the western portion of I-695 instead.

How cold is the Patapsco River?

The Patapsco River is about 50 feet deep where the ship hit the bridge, officials said during a press conference Tuesday morning. Part of the 39-mile river helps form the Baltimore Harbor, just northwest of the bridge collapse, and it flows out to the Chesapeake Bay.

A buoy in the Patapsco River indicated the water temperature Tuesday morning was currently about 47 degrees, while the air is around 41 degrees, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . Whereas hypothermia is thought to occur at very cold temperatures, it can occur in waters below 70 degrees, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

Key Bridge collapse draws comparisons to Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse

In 1980, a Florida bridge also collapsed after a ship collided with it, leading to the deaths of 35 motorists and bus passengers.

A 1,200-foot chunk of the Sunshine Skyway bridge – which connects St. Petersburg and Bradenton – collapsed after the massive Summit Venture freighter slammed into one of its central support piers.

When the section of the bridge fell into Tampa Bay, it took a truck, seven cars and a Greyhound bus with it.

The Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported the crash happened during an intense thunderstorm , with winds reaching 80 mph and heavy rain. At the time, visibility was near-zero, according to local historians who made a documentary film about the collapse.

After the collapse, the freighter remained stuck beneath the bridge, with part of the roadway on top of its bow. Photos from the time also show how one motorist was able to skip his car to a stop just inches away from where the bridge fell into the water.

-Claire Thornton

How vital is the Francis Scott Key Bridge?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, named for the author of the "Star Spangled Banner," is a 1.6-mile, 4-lane bridge that crosses over the Patapsco River, according to the MDTA. It opened in 1977.

The port’s private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any U.S. port. The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website.

The span is the outermost of three major Patapsco River crossings at Baltimore Harbor, according to the American Civil Engineering Society. The steel-arched bridge, with a total length of 8,636 feet, was the second-longest continuous-truss bridge span in the world when it was built and remains the second longest in the United States and third in the world, according to the society .

Contributing: Reuters; Tom Vanden Brook, Eduardo Cuevas , USA TODAY

Watch CBS News

Who owns the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore?

By Megan Cerullo

Edited By Anne Marie Lee

Updated on: March 26, 2024 / 5:05 PM EDT / CBS News

The collapse of  Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday after being struck by a cargo ship has raised questions about who owns and manages the ship, as well as on the potential impact on one the busiest ports in the U.S.

Called the Dali, the 948-foot vessel that hit the bridge is managed by Synergy Marine Group, a Singapore-based company with over 660 ships under management around the world, according to its website . The group said the ship was operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group and chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk at the time of the incident, which sent vehicles and people tumbling into the Patapsco River.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said in a statement to CBS News Tuesday, in which it also confirmed the ship was carrying cargo for Maersk customers. The company had no crew or personnel aboard the ship.

The Dali, which can carry up to 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, was carrying nearly 4,700 containers at the time of the collision. It was operated by a 22-person, Indian crew. It was not immediately clear what kind of cargo the ship was carrying. 

Who owns and manages the Dali?

The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean Private, a Singapore-based company that provides water transportation services. The ship was chartered by Danish container shipping company Maersk at the time of the collision.

Synergy Marine, founded in 2006, provides a range of ship management services, including managing ships' technical components and their crews and overseeing safety, according to S&P Capital IQ. Its parent company, Unity Group Holdings International, an investment holding company, was founded in 2008 and is based in Hong Kong.

Where was the ship headed?

The outbound ship had left Baltimore and was headed for Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, Synergy Marine Group said in a  press release . 

How busy is the Port of Baltimore?

In 2023, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo, worth $80 billion, according  to the office of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. The port is also a significant provider of local jobs. 

The top port in the U.S. for sugar and gypsum imports, it is the ninth busiest U.S. port by the total volume and value of foreign cargo handled. All vessel traffic into and out of the facility is currently suspended, although the port remains open and trucks continue to be processed within the its terminals, according to a statement release by Port of Baltimore officials. 

What is the potential local economic impact?

Directly, the port supports 15,300 jobs, while another 140,000 in the area are related to port activities. The jobs provide a combined $3.3 billion in personal income, according to a CBS News report . The Port of Baltimore said Tuesday that it is unclear how long ship traffic will be suspended.

The disaster also caused chaos for local drivers. The Maryland Transportation Authority said all lanes were closed in both directions on I-695, with traffic being detoured to I-95 and I-895.

How could the bridge collapse affect consumers and businesses?

Experts say the bridge collapse could cause significant supply chain disruptions.

"While Baltimore is not one of the largest U.S. East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than 1 million containers each year, so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains," Emily Stausbøll, a market analyst at Xeneta, an ocean and air freight analytics platform, said in a statement. 

She added that freight services from Asia to the East Coast in the U.S. have already been hampered by drought in the Panama Canal, as well as risks related to conflict in the Red Sea. Nearby ports, including those in New York, New Jersey and Virginia, will be relied on to handle more shipments if Baltimore remains inaccessible. 

Whether ocean freight shipping rates will rise dramatically, potentially affecting consumers as retailers pass along higher costs, will depend on how much extra capacity the alternate ports can handle, Stausbøll said. "However, there is only so much port capacity available and this will leave supply chains vulnerable to any further pressure."

Marty Durbin, senior vice president of policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that the bridge is a critical connector of "people, businesses, and communities."

"Unfortunately, its prolonged closure will likely disrupt commercial activities and supply chains that rely on the bridge and Port of Baltimore each day," he said in a statement.

What other industries could be affected?

Trucking companies could be severely affected by the disaster. 

"Aside from the obvious tragedy, this incident will have significant and long-lasting impacts on the region," American Trucking Associations spokesperson Jessica Gail said, calling Key Bridge and Baltimore's port "critical components'' of the nation's infrastructure.

Gail noted that 1.3 million trucks cross the bridge every year — 3,600 a day. Trucks that carry hazardous materials will now have to make 30 miles of detours around Baltimore because they are prohibited from using the city's tunnels, she said, adding to delays and increasing fuel costs.

"Time-wise, it's going to hurt us a lot," added Russell Brehm, the terminal manager in Baltimore for Lee Transport, which trucks hazardous materials such as petroleum products and chemicals. The loss of the bridge will double to two hours the time it takes Lee to get loads from its terminal in Baltimore's Curtis Bay to the BJ's gasoline station in the waterfront neighborhood of Canton, he estimated.

Cruise operators are also being affected. A Carnival cruise ship that set off Sunday for the Bahamas had been scheduled to return to Baltimore on March 31. Carnival said Tuesday it is "currently evaluating options for Carnival Legend's scheduled return on Sunday." The company also has cruises scheduled to set sail from Baltimore through the summer. 

Norwegian Cruise Line last year introduced new routes departing from the Port of Baltimore. Its sailings are scheduled for late this year. The company said the Key Bridge collapse doesn't immediately require it to reroute any ships.

Who will pay to rebuild the bridge?

President Biden said Tuesday that the federal government, with congressional support, would pay to rebuild the bridge.

"We're going to work with our partners in Congress to make sure the state gets the support it needs. It's my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge," Biden said in comments from the White House. "And I expect the Congress to support my effort. This is going take some time. The people of Baltimore can count on us though, to stick with them, at every step of the way, till the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt."

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News Streaming to discuss her reporting.

More from CBS News

What we know about the condition of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge

What to know about the key bridge collapse in baltimore.

Maps and video show site of bridge collapse in Baltimore

Baltimore bridge collapses after being struck by ship; 6 still missing

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• Local Media Release

CBP announces Global Entry enrollment events for conditionally approved applicants in Tampa and Ft. Myers

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced today a ten-day Global Entry enrollment event in Tampa and Ft. Myers, starting March 18, for applicants who have been conditionally approved to complete the interview portion for this trusted traveler program.

“The addition of appointments and location enrollment opportunities reflects CBP Area Port of Tampa’s commitment to improving the customer experience as Global Entry continues to attract thousands of new applicants in the West Coast of Florida area and nearby communities,” said Radames A. Torres, Tampa Area Port Director. “We are also happy to be able to provide these added opportunities, which in turn brings visitors to the area and helps boost the local economy.”

All conditionally approved Global Entry applicants can schedule for this event from their Trusted Traveler Portal (TTP) account by selecting the location as “Tampa International Event Space” or “Fort Myers Enrollment Center”.

The following are dates, times, and locations of the enrollment event.

Tampa GE Enrollment Event Tampa International Airport – Main Terminal (between Airside E and Airside F)

• March 18 - 22, 2024, 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Fort Myers GE Enrollment Event Southwest Florida International Airport – Departure level

• March 25, 2024, 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• March 26, 2024, 6 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• March 27, 2024, 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• March 28, 2024, 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• March 29, 2024, 6 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Conditionally approved Global Entry applicants who miss this opportunity may still take advantage of CBP’s Enrollment on Arrival interview process. Applicants may complete their required interviews upon their return from international travel at participating airports.

Global Entry is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s Trusted Traveler programs that provide modified screening for pre-approved members, improve security by being more efficient during screenings, and facilitate legitimate trade and travel. Global Entry has more than 10 million members, and is utilized at land, air, and seaports of entry into the United States, and at Preclearance locations around the world.

Successful Global Entry applicants also receive the benefit of the TSA PreCheck® program.

Travelers must be pre-approved for all Trusted Traveler programs, including Global Entry. All applicants undergo rigorous and recurring background checks and complete an in-person interview before enrollment.

CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the comprehensive management, control, and protection of our nation’s borders, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection at and between official ports of entry.