![]() String theory is the cutting-edge idea that all fundamental particles are actually tiny vibrating loops of string. (Image credit: Robert Spriggs (opens in new tab) | Shutterstock (opens in new tab)) "As I understand it if you have anything traveling faster than the speed of light you can have things happening before their causes." E=mc^2 "Most of the theoretical structure that's been erected in the 20th century has relied on this concept that things have to go slower than the speed of light," Plunkett said. Such a result would be scientific heresy, surely requiring some hasty rewriting of laws to make sure causality is preserved. In this case, an "effect" could travel back to a point before its "cause" had occurred - for instance, a baby swinging before he gets a push. ![]() This was accepted in classical physics, and the special theory of relativity took pains to preserve the rule, despite the relativity of an object's motion.īut if something can travel faster than light, it can travel backward in time, according to the theory. What would happen if causality rules were broken and this baby started swinging before the push? (Image credit: Kim Ruoff (opens in new tab) | Shutterstock (opens in new tab))Ī fundamental law of physics, indeed of all science, is causality: that cause always precedes effect.
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