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From what I learnt at university, and a few things i pick up time travel might be theoretically possible. Maybe.

Hypothetically, if for instance, a futuristic robot were to suddenly (and conveinintly) appear in a physics lab, what tests could be done to check if it had travelled through time? Would some sort of radioactive dating work? Could we distinguish between forward and backwards travel?

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In order to provide an answer, it would be necessary to consider the mechanism by which time travel actually occurred. How would the robot suddenly come to appear in the lab? – Niel de Beaudrap Oct 19 '12 at 21:18
I'm not sure, I'm not very familiar with all the types. the only tricks I really know about are the Einstein-Rosen bridge and the relatavistic wormhole. – Pureferret Oct 19 '12 at 21:23
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Is the robot trying to find Sarah Connor? – Jerry Schirmer Oct 19 '12 at 21:52
@Jeremy I'll admit that inspired the question, but I'm genuinely curious now. – Pureferret Oct 19 '12 at 21:58
This could definitely be reopened if it had some more details about the method of time travel (assuming it is something discussed in the literature), or if someone can make a case that the answer doesn't depend on the method of time travel. – David Zaslavsky♦ Oct 21 '12 at 15:56

closed as off topic by Colin K, Qmechanic♦, David Zaslavsky♦ Oct 21 '12 at 15:23

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1 Answer

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This is a highly speculative question. One could imagine all sorts of things depending on the materials it's made of, how far in the future it is coming from, etc. Other than analyzing the material it is made of, I don't think there would be any other event (thing/property) that could be "carried along with the robot" in it's travels. Yes, probably radioactive dating.

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