this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024
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xkcd #2976: Time Traveler Causes of Death (xkcd.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de to c/xkcd@lemmy.world
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Many a hungry time traveler has Googled 'trilobites shellfish allergy' only to find their carrier had no coverage in the Ordovician.

https://explainxkcd.com/2976/

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[โ€“] TechieDamien@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

We disproved a cosmic frame of reference, or "ether" hypothesis using interferometry. It is well worth a read, I think you will enjoy it.

[โ€“] Malfeasant@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago

Not exactly - what was proven is that there's no way to distinguish between inertial frames of reference. There could be a universal frame of reference, which would most likely be the average velocity of all things in the universe. There's not much point in making a distinction in most cases, because if you can't detect it, it might as well not exist - but since we're making up time travel, we might as well make up a universal frame of reference, it doesn't break anything time travel hasn't already broken...