A week or so ago, there was a discussion on here about people wishing a time machine could be created.  While that may be unlikley, and even if it did happen, what are the chances of one of us being able to use it??  ???  But I think it would probably be more likely, given the way technology is going, for a sort of virtual-reality memory to be invented. Like something you put over your eyes that triggers something in your brain when you look at it and brings back memories as clear as when you lived them - I don't know how it would work, but I can see something like that being invented and it would be awesome!!

Actually I've read somewhere that someone is working on the mechanics of a time machine and that it may be possible in the near future to make one.
Problem is, that once it is invented, you could only go forward in time from that point, not backward.
You'd have to have the technology in the time period you're going to, in order to travel to it, that leaves everything before the time machine is invented out of the question. No going back to kill Hitler or warn JFK..

In any case, the question should be if we as human beings really should be trusted with such a device..imagine how it would be used and abused, if a simple thing like a cell phone can cause so much trouble in our lives (driving with them, talking in movies, or while dining), then the use of a time machine by the average inconsiderate & uneducated or power hungry jerk is going to really cause havoc with our everyday lives.

I think the "virtual reality" technology will most likely evolve into something more like the holodeck simulations on Star Trek, many years in the future. At least, I hope so :)

Whether or not someone could mess with the timeline depends on if you subscribe to the single timeline theory, or the multiple - or alternate - timelines (as described in Back to the Future III - remember, the Doc hid the Delorean in the mineshaft before Marty arrived; therefore, when Marty arrives there should be two time machines in 1885...) theory.

I'm more inclined to the multiple idea, since if a time machine has been built in the future, we would see radical changes happening, such as Hitler being assassinated - or whatever.

In the single timeline theory you would possibly encounter the futility of trying to change events, but ultimately contributing to them. It can get very convoluted!