How does a time machine really work?

February 16, 2010 1:53 PM

I just watched a thing on Discovery Channel YouTube, and it was from three years ago about time machines. Real ones. But my question was, what happens when you turn off the machine, and then turn it back on?

I understand that you can only send things back in time to when you started the time machine, but what happens if you shut the machine off, and then turn it back on again? The next time you turn it on, can you only send things back to that time? Or can you send things back to the first time? Or not? Wondering...

posted by tenkarasu to Technology (3 answers total)

Background: The World's First Time Machine. It focuses on the research by Ronald Mallett at UConn.
posted by smackfu at 2:01 PM on February 16, 2010

I'm pretty sure the idea is that you can only send things back to however long the machine has been continuously on. So if it turns of and then on again.. you start over.
posted by pwally at 2:05 PM on February 16, 2010

Yeah, as I understand it the idea is that the machine in it's off state is essentially a diferent machine. No different than if you had completely disassembled it.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:20 PM on February 16, 2010