# 🕧 Searching the Internet for evidence of time travellers

Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/1312.7128
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Searching-the-Internet-for-evidence-of-time-travellers?index=0x65c24077e638c931201d6778f78dc69075e2c30333f46b360039a48ad0a4c193fb57470e
Submitted by frotograf.eth on 2024-02-06 UTC, 1 upvote, 0 comments

## Summary

Robert J. Nemiroff and Teresa Wilson report finding no evidence of time travelers after three Internet searches for prescient mentions of information not previously available. The first search scanned content placed online, including a comprehensive search of specific terms in tweets on Twitter. The second examined search queries submitted to a popular astronomy website, and the third requested direct communication by email or tweet predating the inquiry. The authors searched only for travelers from the future, citing verifiability concerns, and state that their negative results do not disprove time travel.

## Article

Searching the Internet for evidence of time travelers

Authors: Robert J. Nemiroff, Teresa Wilson

Time travel has captured the public imagination for much of the past century, but little has been done to actually search for time travelers. Here, three implementations of Internet searches for time travelers are described, all seeking a prescient mention of information not previously available. The first search covered prescient content placed on the Internet, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific terms in tweets on Twitter. The second search examined prescient inquiries submitted to a search engine, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific search terms submitted to a popular astronomy web site. The third search involved a request for a direct Internet communication, either by email or tweet, pre-dating to the time of the inquiry. Given practical verifiability concerns, only time travelers from the future were investigated. No time travelers were discovered. Although these negative results do not disprove time travel, given the great reach of the Internet, this search is perhaps the most comprehensive to date.