1. glennmid101

    glennmid101 New Member

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    sending message back in time

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by glennmid101, Aug 14, 2011.

    It is credible to send messages back in time, by morse code.

    The whole idea of time travel is great, but a twist is to communicate through time.

    My idea is for a physicist to receive messages via morse code. These message warn him that an individual is in trouble, and that he has to act, in order to save that person's life.
     
  2. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Sending messages back in time is subject to the same paradoxes as physical time travel. I recommend James P Hogan's novel Thrice Upon a Time for an interesting analysis of time theories. The novel itself involves communications through time.
     
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  3. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    So what's your question...? :confused:
     
  4. DBock

    DBock New Member

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    Also check out the movie Frequency for inspiration.
     
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  5. glennmid101

    glennmid101 New Member

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    Sorry

    Sorry, I had phrased the question badly.

    Is it credible to have a story, which involves messages being sent back in time.

    The messages are transmitted in morse code, but condensed in such a way, as to arouse suspicion.
     
  6. Lightman

    Lightman Active Member

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    It's no less credible than any other method of time travel.
     
  7. Cain

    Cain Member

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    Why morse code though? I doubt it could be an accidental message since we don't use morse code any more (well much anyway). On the other hand morse code would be a great choice if you had limited bandwidth and you were targetting the 1950's say.

    If it's going to arouse suspicion then it's going to have to stand out in some way. A bit like the Aztec images that the foil hat brigade believe depict a spaceman - if it became part of an image that was created before morse code was invented, then clearly it was a message sent back in time.
     
  8. WriterDude

    WriterDude Contributor Contributor

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    It's plausible, but I wouldn't recommend it fore three reasons:

    1. A morse code is just sound, so don't they have to be in the correct place at the correct time to hear it?

    2. If the morse code is in code, how do they decipher it?

    3. If you are technologically advanced enough to travel in time, why stick to the old morse code? Don't they have as more advanced way to send a message?
     
  9. cruciFICTION

    cruciFICTION Contributor Contributor

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    I suggest you look up tachyons and their use in popular media. Aside from Watchmen, many authors use them to explain the ability to send messages back in time.
     
  10. Ian_o_the_bo

    Ian_o_the_bo New Member

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    i remember reading a book where messages were sent back through time and received as ones and zeros in gamma rays, which were then tilted sideways to be read as morse code. Did you write this, or do you remember who did? it was about the end of the world
     
  11. Hammer

    Hammer Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Hi @Ian_o_the_bo, and welcome to the forum.

    Somebody here might know the story to which you allude, but I just thought I would mention that the OP was made in 2011, and the poster hasn't been seen on the board for over a decade so it is quite possible that he may not respond to you in any timely sense... unless of course he is actually a time-traveller and scoffs at mere decades between postings
     
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  12. Bruce Johnson

    Bruce Johnson Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Are you thinking of The Three Body Problem?
     
  13. Ian_o_the_bo

    Ian_o_the_bo New Member

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    no.
    what i remember of the book's plot is below. Please help if you can. I really want to reread this, but haven't been able to remember the name.

    guy(going to call him Andrew cause I don't remember name) asks girl named Rachel if communication through time is possible. Rachel's dad has access to some kind of gamma ray receiver. Andrew thinks that there might be messages in gamma rays and gets a revelation while walking through the woods. messages encoded in morse code. he turns the binary transcript of the gamma rays sideways and reads it as morse code. they then get messages with the winning lottery numbers and get Andrew's older brother and Rachel's boyfriend "fat boy"(actual nickname in the book) to get the winning lottery tickets. after this some other stuff happens, they receive a bitmap (i think) containing map to "chimera project" and get there too late to stop it. receive messages that says "fat boy don't go". then through some message saying "waterworks"(or something similar), they figure out that the monsters (which apparently are macroscopic antibodies) can be killed with saltwater.
     
  14. Ian_o_the_bo

    Ian_o_the_bo New Member

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    sorry about how long winded this is
     
  15. Ian_o_the_bo

    Ian_o_the_bo New Member

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    thank you for telling me that
     
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  16. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    The Light of Other Days? (Stephen Baxter)

    ETA: Seeing what you posted of the plot, maybe not!
     
  17. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    My final answer is The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner.
     
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  18. Ian_o_the_bo

    Ian_o_the_bo New Member

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    that is it. Thank you so so much
     
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  19. Ian_o_the_bo

    Ian_o_the_bo New Member

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    you have just ended 3 years of not being able to find this
     
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  20. Ian_o_the_bo

    Ian_o_the_bo New Member

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    i am in awe. Thank you so much.
     
  21. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Glad I was able to help!
     
  22. montecarlo

    montecarlo Contributor Contributor

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    Reminds me of the film Interstellar
     
  23. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    2 things came to my mind immediately, and both had already been said by people years before I arrived on the scene:
     

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