Columbus Africentric High School Students Find Error In Wormhole Theory

June 10, 2009 - PRLog -- Dateline Columbus Ohio: A handful of students, from the physics classes of Dr. Bashiel Smith of the Columbus Africentric High School, were able to detect an error in a world famous model for using wormholes for time travel. The students participated in the thought problem experiment as part of the SuperScience for High School Physics http://login.prospero.com/n/mb/display.asp?webtag=kr-ohio_educ&msg=9.1&&liaagc=y program run by research and development engineer Marshall Barnes.

Marshall had first detected the error in 2002 and wrote a formal paper about it in 2003. The following year, after learning that no PhDs that he showed the error to were able to see it until after he pointed out the mistake point blank, he presented it as part of his lecture at the 2004 International Mars Society Conference called, Avoiding Hidden Assumption Traps When Thinking Outside the Box http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/17016.html , which was enthusiastically received. It was also tape recorded and will appear in part in an upcoming audio documentary about researching the physics of time travel theories http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/time-travel-audio-documentary-works-more . The thought model was created by Cal Tech physics professor Kip Thorne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WLAOzgEwTw and first published in his 1988 paper, Wormholes, Time machines and the Weak Energy Condition http://authors.library.caltech.edu/9262/ , and has been cited by nearly every famous popular science commentator, whenever the subject of time travel is discussed. It has appeared in his own book, Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393312763/ref=nosim/weisstein-20 .

A web site is being created that will host a video of the students in action, and will be launched along with updates and discussions on the experiment and what it means for the future of academics and science. The results of the experiment are indicative of issues raised by physicist Lee Smolin in his book, The Trouble With Physics http://www.thetroublewithphysics.com/ . At that time, an official announcement will be made worldwide to celebrate the achievement of the students and those of students from another Central Ohio high school who participated successfully in a similar experiment conducted by Marshall last year.