Key facts
- Physicist Jim Al-Khalili believes tech billionaires trying to live forever are wasting their time.
- Al-Khalili will give the Royal Institution Christmas lectures on the topic of time.
- He suggests that focusing on extending life means missing out on the present moment.
- According to Einstein's theory of relativity, time runs at different rates depending on speed and gravity.
- Al-Khalili claims that according to Einstein, all times coexist: past, present, and future.
- He will explain his solution to the problem of why time only seems to flow in one direction.
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili has stated that tech billionaires attempting to achieve immortality are wasting their time and missing out on the present. He argues that life is a finite interval and extending it is not a worthwhile pursuit, preferring to focus on making the most of the time available.
Al-Khalili, who will be giving this year’s Royal Institution Christmas lectures on the topic of time, said that people expending their energy on trying to live forever may be missing out on the here and now. "We have a finite interval of time in which we exist in the universe. And the more I study the nature of time, the more I think about it, the more I realise that I just want to make the most of the time that I have," he said.
He noted that some individuals are turning to unregulated peptide injections, cold plunges, and supplements to defy aging, while the ultra-rich are aiming for immortality with more drastic interventions. Tech chief executive Bryan Johnson has even tried injecting plasma from his 17-year-old son, though he later stated he saw no benefit from it. Johnson is described as the world's most measured human.
Al-Khalili's fascination with time stems from childhood, and his physics training revealed that the common-sense view of time differs significantly from its conception in physics. He referenced Albert Einstein's theories, explaining that time does not run at the same rate for everyone, varying with speed and gravity. Einstein also theorized that all times—past, present, and future—coexist, similar to points in space, though we only experience the present moment.
The physicist plans to explore time travel in his Christmas lectures, noting that mathematically, it is possible to travel back in time through "closed time-like curves" in spacetime, though paradoxes make it unlikely. Traveling to the future, however, is theoretically easier by slowing down time through high speeds or strong gravitational fields, as depicted in the movie Interstellar.
Al-Khalili will also address the long-standing scientific conundrum of why time only seems to flow in one direction, despite fundamental equations suggesting no preferred direction. He claims to have found an answer to this problem, which he will reveal in the Christmas lectures, supported by CGI and broadcast on the BBC and iPlayer in late December.