Wormholes, Time Travel, and Other Mysteries of the Universe

Is there more than one universe out there? Scientists like Brian Greene are trying to find the answer.

What does it mean to be a genius? That question was recently explored at 92Y's 7 Days of Genius Festival in New York City. Panelists talked about artist Leonardo da Vinci, physicist Albert Einstein, and innovator Steve Jobs, among others. Brian Greene, a Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University, spoke on a panel about Einstein, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.

Before Greene’s panel discussion, I had a chance to ask him about wormholes, time travel and other mysteries of the cosmos. Greene has written several books, including The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos. He has also created an online science education platform.

How does Greene spark interest in complicated subjects? He tries to “build a bridge,” he said, with things you know about, and then “bring you across that bridge to the strange place of modern physics.”

WHAT IF I TRAVELED BACK IN TIME?

I asked Greene a million-dollar question: What if I went through a wormhole and prevented my parents from meeting? “Most of us believe that the universe makes sense,” Green said. Despite several interesting theories about time travel, he added, the laws of physics would probably prevent something so illogical from taking place. The good news is that the time paradox is open for future physicists to solve.

PHYSICS IS FUN!

When asked how physics could become more exciting for kids, Greene said that books by Stephen Weinberg, Leonard Susskind, and other physicists, “make this is a great time for people who want to learn about [big] ideas but aren’t yet ready, perhaps, to learn the Math.”

When I pointed out that some students still might find physics boring, Greene said that the key is to teach them about things that are wacky and strange. “The basic stuff is important,” Greene said. “But I think it’s really important to also describe the more modern ideas, things like black holes and the Big Bang. If kids have those ideas in mind, then at least some of them will be excited to learn all the details.”

Greene has followed Einstein’s lead in trying to solve the mysteries of the universe. Now he wants kids to do the same. As Greene said, physics is “not just a matter of solving the problem on the exam.” It’s about experimenting, cultivating a passion for weird phenomena—and having fun!

WATCH THE VIDEO

Click here to see a video of Joshua’s interview with Brian Greene.