Quote:
Originally Posted by corporatejay
If you travelled at light speed, time would slow down for you, so even though it took you 40 years to get there and back and you would age 40 years, hundreds of years would have passed on earth.
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Actually, if you travelled at the speed of light for 40 light-years NO TIME AT ALL would pass for you, while 40 years would have passed for everyone else when you returned to earth.
However, it is impossible to accelerate a mass to the speed of light, so at least some time would pass for you during transit (and obviously time would pass while you were actually accelerating to near-light speed, and decelerating at the other end, for that matter). If you travel far enough at near light speeds, though, it would be like a time machine that could take you to the future.