Why a Time Machine Would Instantly Kill You

A short lesson on Earth's movement through space

Image by the author. Inspired by the time machine in Day of the Tentacle.

A time machine! How awesome would that be, right?

You could finally meet all your deadlines, give your kindergarten bully a wedgie, and make out with your younger self. But don’t get too excited just yet. Time machines have one serious problem — they’d kill you. Instantly.

Here, let me explain why.

Our planet is moving faster than you think

Image by Elf Pavlik. Source: Wikimedia (Public domain).

Lovely, isn’t it? How our planet is sitting there, suspended in space, gently spinning around its axis, bringing us day and night as the sun shines on one side and then the other. Such tranquility. Such calm.

But the picture is misleading. Maybe a better illustration would be this:

Image modified by the author. Original by Zaqwerdx. Source: Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Okay, that isn’t accurate either. But it conveys something the first image doesn’t. You see, although from space Earth seems to be spinning gently, in reality it…