Three things that really will make you wonder if time travel could be possible.....

I cannot say that time travel is possible (Why? Because I failed my TARDIS driving test on a damn technicality*, that's why).

That said, I've worked with plenty of people who were clearly from an entirely different universe. One where things like gravity didn’t apply, and two plus two made anything you liked between three and twelve.

So I definitely won’t be saying it’s impossible.

On that basis, I can’t say that the following items were the result of a bored time machine pilot going back and messing with history. But they do deserve some careful consideration……

1: Damascus steel:

Image above: A section of a Damascus steel blade, showing the strange mottled pattern.

 

Historical fencing buffs will be familiar with this hugely tough metal, and its strangely mottled appearance. Swords made of it are said to stay sharp even after being used to cut through rocks, or other swords - good to have handy in an sixteenth century bawl.

The bizarre part is that when scientist examined swords made of this steel they found its strength came (in part) from having carbon nanotubes woven into the crystalline structure. Nanotubes – as the name implies – are a kind of nanotechnology: Tube shaped molecules of carbon, that have insane strength. Carbon nanotubes have, for example, been suggested as a material strong enough to be used as a cable stretching from the ground up into orbit.

Image above: An artists impression of a space elevator with a carbon nanotube spine.

The original secrets of forging Damascus steel have been lost - although there have been plenty of attempts to rediscover them (with varying levels of success). And, since carbon nanotubes were only discovered in 1950, and not recognised by scientists at large for decades after, it’s hard not to wonder exactly what those secrets were…..

2: The Antikythera mechanism.

Image above: The mechanism (what's left of it) on display.

I can keep this one short and sweet: The Antikythera mechanism was found in a shipwreck, off the Greek island of Antikythera.

It's a simple analogue computer, apparently used for calculating the positions of astronomical objects.

It's two thousand years old.

I'll say that again, in case you missed it: It's a computer (of a very simple mechanical kind, but still...) that was built TWO THOUSAND years ago.

To quote Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University, part of the team who first realised what it was:

"This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop.... more valuable than the Mona Lisa."

3: The Oklo Nuclear Reactor.

Image above: A modern, man made, nuclear reactor.

Ok, this one is a bit of a cheat, as it isn't a piece of technology -  in the sense that technology is something built by an intelligence. At least, I really hope it isn’t. My brain can only take so much bizarre. The Oklo nuclear reactor is, yes, a nuclear reactor.

It's nearly two billion years old.

See what I mean?

As far as anyone can tell, about two billion years ago a really unique set of conditions - just by coincidence - came together: The right oxygen levels in the air, the right sized natural deposit of uranium 235, the right amount of ground water flowing through that deposit to keep it from overheating. And, just like that, the deposits of uranium began producing energy (about 100,000 joules per second on average), just like a modern reactor. They kept producing power, on and off, for hundreds of thousands of years.....

Image above: The site of the ancient Oklo reactor.

Of course, there have been remarkable thinkers, Da Vincis, Einsteins, John Freemans (ahem, excuse my ego) throughout history, and nature has genius all it's own. So there's no need to get all suspicious and start watching the corners for Daleks....

Unless..... unless that is you're reading this from the pilot seat of your TARDIS..... and this article has just given you three brilliant ideas for pranks.....

*Yeah...um.. the whole thing with the dinosaurs getting blown up? Turns out it wasn't an asteroid so much as me botching the four dimensional equivalent of a parallel park.