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Time Travel - go Fast to go to Past

Time travel is a very abstract concept and very difficult to explain without complex mathematical equations and concepts, which is understood by a minuscule portion of the population. I will attempt to explain the concept of time travel in a simplistic manner.  We will take the example of a fictitious murder for our understanding - just to add some spice to this drab topic. Whodunnit John was found, shot dead, in his room. You are the detective to whom this problem has been presented but despite using all the known methods, you are not able to crack the case. One Mr. Albert meets you outside the scene of the crime and suggests that you travel very fast to find out who murdered John. You wonder how this escapist attitude can get you to solve the problem, but this is what he has to say: John was murdered in a well-lit room. It is clear that there was a murderer who fired the bullet from inside the room, at point-blank range, to kill John. The light from the bulbs wo

Spider-Man, Mobile phones and dropped calls

Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler - Albert Einstein My friends have often asked me why do we have dropped calls in mobile networks. I have used Spider man's analogy to explain this: most have found it interesting and sufficient to satiate their curiosity. For your perusal. The technology behind the mobile phones is a bit complicated for a non-technical person to comprehend -  Hence this analogy. How does the Spider-man navigate the city?   1. He makes a link with a tall building ahead of him, swings down and past the building. 2. At the farthest end of the swing, he makes a link with the building ahead, shedding the previous link and swings past this building. 3. This goes on and on till he gets to the 'scene of the crime'  - the cycle ends there. Mobile phones move around the networks in a similar fashion Here the buildings are Towers (or Base Stations / Radio Base Stations / Node B ...), the Spider-man the mobile