"How To Build a Time Machine"

In his concise essay on time travel, Stephen Hawking indirectly shatters many of the time travel scenarios presented in science fiction, such as backwards time travel and time travel without first reaching speeds close to that of light. The one hypothetical situation Hawking does present as feasible for time travel is actually quite simple. When an object almost reaches the speed of light, time actually slows (relative to what it would be if the object weren't traveling at such a high speed) so that the object can't quite reach the speed of light. I have had further exposure to this idea in Ender's Game, where Ender is able to escape the effects of long-term aging by traveling long distances at ultra-high speeds.

After reading Hawking's article, I have a new appreciation for physics, but, as a result, less appreciation for sci-fi films that ignore the science that Hawking explains. Ender's Game is one of the few novels that accepts science as fact, and works its way around the scientific laws to create a compelling story.