1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: Now here's a highlight from Coast to coast am on 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Professor Ron Mallett back with US. Professor 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: of theoretical Physics at the University of Connecticut. Professor Mallett's 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: breakthrough research on time travel has been featured extensively in 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: the media all over this planet. He recently published memoir 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: The Time Traveler are very compelling and human story of 7 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: a man whose deep childhood trauma drove him on a 8 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: quest to build a time machine. Professor, welcome back to 9 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: the program. Oh, thank you, George. It's a pleasure to 10 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 1: be back. I'm getting emails from people who want to 11 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: know if they can go back and change the time continuum, 12 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: and Guy in in in storylines of life and everything 13 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: else will get into some of that. Have you been 14 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: I've been very I'm busy, actually thinks have been going. Wow, 15 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: three years since you've been on the show. Yeah, I know, 16 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,520 Speaker 1: I know, way too long, way too long, but gosh, 17 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: we just keep hearing great things about you. Now for 18 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: people who are brand new to the program, Professor tell 19 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: us about off this quest to build this time machine 20 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: in what pushes you so hard? Well, I mean, the 21 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: thing is is that has to do with a tragedy 22 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: in my early life. I grew up in the Bronx 23 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: and I was the oldest of four children, and my 24 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: father was a television repairman, and I idolized him. He 25 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: for me the son rose and sat on him and 26 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: he uh would do things. He would spend a lot 27 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: of time with me. He worked very hard, but he 28 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: would spend a lot of time with the family, and 29 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: he would give me scientific toys like crystal readio set 30 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: and gyroscope. And uh, the thing is he looked robust, 31 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: and he looked healthy and uh. So it was complete 32 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,279 Speaker 1: another shock when he died of a massive heart attack 33 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: when he was only thirty three years old and I 34 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: was at the time, and uh, it just really tore 35 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: my world completely apart. I really went from being a 36 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: happy kid to a depressed kid. And I didn't really 37 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: care whether I lived or died. But one of the 38 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: other gifts he left me was a love for reading. 39 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: And uh. About a year after he died, when I 40 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: was eleven, I came across the book that changed my life. 41 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: It was a classics illustrated version of H. G. Wells's 42 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: classic novel The Time Machine, and uh, and in the 43 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: beginning of it, it says, scientific people know very well 44 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: that time is just the kind of space, and we 45 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: can move forward and backward in time just as we 46 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: can in space. And when I read that, I thought, oh, 47 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: this is it, this is this is this will solve 48 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: my problem. If I could go back in time, I 49 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: could see him again and maybe tell him what's going 50 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: to happen and save his life. So that became a 51 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: mission for me to try to build a time. And 52 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: yet I even uh used the old television and radio 53 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: parts that my mother kept after he died, and use 54 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: bicycle parts and things to put something together. And of 55 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: course it didn't work, which is probably just as well. 56 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: I planted did in nothing happened, and if they had 57 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: probably would burn the house now. But the thing is 58 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 1: is that I remembered it said scientific people know very well, 59 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: So I knew science was going to have to be 60 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: involved in it in some way, and I didn't exactly 61 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: know exactly how that was going to happen. But luckily 62 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: for me, I did have this strong book habit I 63 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: had to read, and I used to go to the 64 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: Salvation Army, where I could afford at that time, to 65 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: buy books for a nickel, and I came across the 66 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: second book. This was about a couple of years after, 67 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: when I was about twelve thirteen, But I came across 68 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: the second book that changed my life. On the cover, 69 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: it showed a picture of Einstein, and I knew that 70 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: Einstein was this great genius. I didn't know what he did, 71 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: but I knew he was this great genius. And he 72 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: was standing next to a large size um hour glass. 73 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: And so that meant to me, just from the cover, 74 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: that Einstein must have something to do with time. So 75 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: I got the book and it was rough going. I 76 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: didn't have the background, even though it was a popular book. 77 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: But it did say that Einstein said that time, unlike uh, 78 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: the classical physics of Newton, where time cannot be changed, 79 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: nothing you do can alter time. According to Einstein, there 80 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: is a way that you can alter time. So I 81 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: knew if I could understand what Einstein meant by that, 82 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: if you could alter time, then maybe that would be 83 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 1: what the science I need for a time machine. So 84 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: that became my second passion. It was to try to 85 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: understand Einstein. And it was a long journey from there. 86 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: Uh And well, we can get into all the things 87 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: that Einstein had said. But but that was the beginning 88 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: of my passion for Einstein and my understanding eventually how 89 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,720 Speaker 1: time travel and the time machine might be possible scientifically run. 90 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: Did you go into theoretical physics primarily to build a 91 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: time machine? No, you know that that's a very good question, 92 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: because a lot of people think that that was so, 93 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: and that isn't. What happened is is that we were 94 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: very poor after my father died, so I decided to 95 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: do what my father had done. I went into the 96 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: military as a listen man in the Air Force a 97 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: war period, thank you. And the thing is is that 98 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: I used the g I bill when I got out. 99 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: Now by what I was while I was in the service, 100 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: I became a computer technician, and I came across UH. 101 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: We had to study things about electronics and UH. And 102 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: one of the things I came across was a book 103 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: was actually a manual, and they had this equation and 104 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: they said that you would not be able to understand 105 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: its equation, but we're putting it in because it's just 106 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: so beautiful and it tells you that electrons aren't these 107 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: little billiard ball of things, which I had thought they were. 108 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: But they are actually waves and they can actually move 109 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: through solid objects. And the equation was called the scroll 110 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: injury equation, and of course they were right. I didn't 111 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: understand anything about it, and they didn't try to describe it. 112 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: But but I thought this, this is incredible that there 113 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: are people who can actually construct things like this, equations 114 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: like this to describe weird things like the electrons being 115 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: able to move through barriers and so. And I found 116 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: that these print people were called UH, theoretical physicists in 117 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: the in the science that they were studying with quantum mechanics. 118 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: So it was actually quantum mechanics that made me want 119 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: to become a theoretical physicist. So it's interesting because in 120 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: a sense, relativity, you might say, UH was a means 121 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: to an end for me, and it's a beautiful theory, 122 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: but it was a means to an end, whereas UH, 123 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: quantum mechanics was just this mysterious, beautiful thing that I 124 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: needed to understand. And so it was fortunate for me 125 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: that it turned out that Einstein was a theoretical physicist, 126 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: so I knew I could get both things. I could 127 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: understand relativity to see how a time machine would be built. 128 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 1: And at the same time, you know, I could understand 129 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: what it was like to be a theoretical physicist to 130 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: use these equations to understand how the universe works in 131 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: a strange thing called quantum mechanics. So that was really 132 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: the people are surprised that that was actually my love 133 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: for quantum mechanics and Thrillinger's equation which actually got me 134 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: to become a theoretical physicist. Well, they're building some incredible things. 135 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: The large Hadron Collider at CERN, Switzerland and French border 136 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: is amazing. Now who knows how close they can come 137 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: to building an actual time machine in terms of the 138 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: things you've done to try to construct one. Are you 139 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: still at it or are you letting other people work 140 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: on it? No? No, You have to remember, remember I 141 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: said that I'm a theoretical physicist and that what I 142 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: did was to Einstein had developed a set of equations. 143 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: They're called Einstein's gravitational field equations. They're part of what's 144 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: known as his general theory of relativity, and essentially what 145 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: that theory says is Einstein's theory says that what we 146 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: call all the gravitational force really isn't a force at all. 147 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: It's actually a structure of space. And what he meant 148 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: by that, and the simple analogy that I give to 149 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: people is the fact that think of empty space is 150 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: being like let's say, like a rubber sheet like a trampoline, 151 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: and think of the sun for example. Imagine let's use 152 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: this an uh an analogy. Let's say that we on 153 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: this rubber sheet, I place a bowling ball. The bowling 154 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: ball curves the rubber sheet, and let's suppose I put 155 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: a little marble on the rubber sheet. The marble will 156 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,319 Speaker 1: move down towards the bowling ball, and if I give 157 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: the marvel a little bit of a sideways motion, the 158 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: marble will actually move along the curvature that's produced by 159 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: the bowling ball and move around it sort of orbit. 160 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what Einstein said the Sun is doing. 161 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: The Sun is actually bending empty space. We can't see that, okay, 162 00:08:56,679 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: and it would be like the rubber sheet becoming transparent. 163 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: All we can is the effect. That is to say 164 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: that if you have a comet, for example, common example 165 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: is being pulled towards the sun, just the way in 166 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: which the marble is being pulled towards the bowling ball 167 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: and the Earth is actually moving in a sideways motion. 168 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: Just like if you give the marble a little bit 169 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: of a push, it would move around the bowling ball. 170 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: That's what the Earth is doing around the Sun. So 171 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: what we call the gravitational force is actually the bending 172 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: of space. An incident I should mention it. Sometimes popularizers 173 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: don't get it quite right. Uh, gravity doesn't cause the 174 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: bending of space. Gravity is the space. Listen to more 175 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,679 Speaker 1: Coast to Coast a m every weeknight at one a m. Eastern, 176 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: and go to Coast to Coast am dot com for 177 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: more