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TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian scientist claims to have invented a ‘time machine' that works with the future, but not with the past.
Ali Razeghi, 27, told the Fars state news agency the device takes readings from the touch of a user and predicts the future in a printout. He said a set of complex algorithms can "predict five to eight years of the future life of any individual, with 98 percent accuracy," according to the Telegraph.
Razeghi is managing director of Iran's Center for Strategic Inventions and lists 179 other inventions under his name. He said he has been working on the project for 10 years.
"My invention easily fits into the size of a personal computer case and can predict details of the next 5-8 years of the life of its users," he said. "It will not take you into the future, it will bring the future to you."
Razeghi said he would not release a prototype because he believes China would steal it and mass produce it.
Since the Telegraph's article Wednesday, though, some have questioned not only whether the machine would work — as was expected — but whether Razeghi is who he says he is.
Related:
5 great time machines from movies
Thanks to movies, we've seen some pretty awesome ways to travel through time and I think it's about time we paid tribute to those fancy machines.Michael Rundle pointed out for the Huffington Post that the Fars report is not linked to in the Telegraph article, and no mention of Razeghi appears on the English version of the site. Rundle also pointed out the Center for Strategic Inventions does not appear to exist, at least according to Google.
Whether the confusion is just a case of Google mayhem or an inventor gone rogue, Iran doesn't exactly have a perfect record as far as not faking technological breakthroughs goes. In January, it pretended to return a monkey safely from space.
In February, the defense minister unveiled a "super-advanced," radar "evading" military jet. The Atlantic Wire pointed out the jet was tiny, missing important parts and looked like it was made of plastic.
In November, a new vertical takeoff and landing drone was announced by Iran. It turned out to be a bad photoshop job.
