Back to the Future Time Travel Rules Explained!
How realistic is the science of time travel as depicted in Back to the Future?
Back to the Future just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Let’s put that in perspective for you: Back to the Future is now older than the period of time that Marty McFly traveled in that first film, where he rocketed at 88mph from 1985 back to 1955. And while the concept of using a weird, well, concept car as a time machine might seem a little quirky, it certainly didn’t hamper this flick, which is generally considered a pretty timeless classic, despite its ‘80s trappings. For the record, we consider it one of those classics, too!
And while we generally believe that you probably shouldn’t spend too much time thinking about the logistics of time travel (although we already covered a little of that in our episode about the TARDIS from Doctor Who), the specific mechanisms of time travel in Back to the Future are just too cool and appealing (not to mention iconic) to ignore. So in this episode, Hakeem and Tamara tackle it all! What are the specific rules of time travel in the Back to the Future trilogy? What’s the significance of hitting 88mph in order to go back in time? Is there a real world equivalent to the flux capacitor? And, of course, the age old question… “what the hell is a gigawatt?!?”
All this and more in the latest episode of…Does it Fly?
SUGGESTED VIEWING
At this point it’s hard to imagine any of you haven’t at least seen the original Back to the Future, one of the most beloved movies of the 1980s. But we suppose it’s possible that a few of you might not have watched the entire trilogy. Well, guess what? Those movies rule pretty hard, too and Hakeem and Tamara went through all three films to make sense of the time travel science and story rules. Get going!
There’s also Expedition: Back to the Future which is a fun capstone to the film’s legacy, the DeLorean, and more. Check it out on Max!
FURTHER READING
Do you want to delve a little deeper into the facts, concepts, and stories Hakeem and Tamara referenced in today’s episode? Here are a few recommendations!
Hakeem’s quoting Mark Twain via his friend, Professor Edward W. Kolb, has some additional scientific context in the link above!
The scientific case for time travel.
“It turns out that our speed through space squared plus our speed through time squared is equal to the speed of light squared. So all things in the universe that exist are always moving at the speed of light through spacetime. So if you move more quickly through space, you’ll move more slowly through time…so the higher the energy situation, the more slow the time travel is.”
“These are hypothetical particles that can only travel greater than the speed of light.”
(Look, we know Hakeem was pretty harsh on these hypothetical particles, but they’re pretty darn cool anyway.)
“What the hell is a gigawatt?” (Marty McFly…not Hakeem or Tamara. They’re much more articulate and thoughtful).
“A capacitor is something that stores energy. They come in different geometrical configurations…”
The Many Worlds Interpretation
“But when you make a measurement, you can only ever actually see one state at a time. So the ‘many worlds interpretation’ basically just says that when you make an observation, the only thing you’ve discovered is what world you’re in. Every possible outcome actually occurred.”
Certainly by now you’ve checked out Tamara’s incredible other project dealing with the intersection of science and storytelling, right? And if not, what are you waiting for? Go now!
And while you’re here, might we suggest making a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation?
WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY?
Twisters is in theaters now and we took a look at the science of the film, via the lens of the original 1996 movie!
Star Wars: The Acolyte just completed its inaugural season on Disney+. Time to learn how lightsabers work…and why none of you should have them!
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