Travel at faster than the speed of light certainly can have dramatic implications that are difficult to understand, such as time travel.

Basically, I wasn't properly socialized, so it made sense to do physics.

There are many aspects of time we just do not understand. That’s the thing about writing a popular book: You realize the things you understand because for those you can give a really simple explanation. But some things about time I just don’t know how to give simple explanations for, even though I can tell you mathematically what’s going on.

I did not set out to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs. I'm a particle physicist, and I was actually thinking about dark matter along with some collaborators.

Speculation and the exploration of ideas beyond what we know with certainty are what lead to progress.

When people try to use religion to address the natural world, science pushes back on it, and religion has to accommodate the results. Beliefs can be permanent, but beliefs can also be flexible. Personally, if I find out my belief is wrong, I change my mind. I think that's a good way to live.

There is real confusion about what it means to be right and wrong - the difference between what spiritual beliefs are and what science is.