The tachyon particle has an almost mythical air about it in the scientific community, mostly because we don’t know if it actually exists. But if it does, the tachyon has some tantalizing connections to time travel.

The concept of the speed of light, and a particle that may travel faster than the speed of light, started gaining pace with Albert Einstein in 1905. Physicist Gerald Feinberg termed this potential particles a “tachyon” in 1967. We’ve long been intrigued by the promise of the tachyon and now, thanks to a recent Discover Magazine article, the perplexing particle is once again back in the mainstream.