Is there a way to test if something's from the future?

Originally posted by Omega Vision
This is for a short story that I'm trying to perfect before sending out to various magazines.

The story concerns a man who, while digging his own pool, finds a skeleton. He calls the police who take the skeleton away, only to return it to him a month or two later after determining it's his own skeleton from the future.

I need an explanation--it doesn't have to be airtight, just believable--for how they might determine it's from the future. Carbon dating won't work, obviously, and right now I'm planning for them to make the pull by comparing his dental records and also the degeneration of the bones from arthritis (suggesting a more advanced case than his own), but I'm wondering if there's a marker that might suggest something is from the future.

CO2 levels in the bones/soil around the bones? Some kind of radiation that increases in concentration over time?

Sounds interesting.

I don't know how factually true this is off-hand but I remember hearing/learning, at some point in my college days, that as men grow older, our brow ridge grows and protrudes out more over our eye sockets. You would have to research it but I think it's true to an extent. If any thing you could gather and present a number of markers to add more believability to the future skeleton. I could very well be wrong though. Hope this helps.

Also, if what I said is true I also recall that the brow ridge continues to grow well into middle age and later. It's similar to how everyone's ears grow bigger as we age.

If you look it up, maybe you could let me know if my info is correct Omega.

So, update: there's a magazine that wants the story, but they're not my first, second, or even fifth pick, and I've been getting replies on submitted work at such a rapid rate these last few days that it's conceivable that another, better magazine, might ask for it tomorrow, or even today, so I'm going to see about waiting a day or two before replying to them.

Congrats man, that's awesome.

dope!

Originally posted by Omega Vision
So, update: there's a magazine that wants the story...

Now that's pretty cool. Don't forget to tell us how it goes.

If OV ever makes it huge as a writer, I'm going to blackmail him out of millions using KMC quotes he's made. Millions!

Lol, that's my greatest fear, Rob.

It's basically why I can't ever run for public office.

Thanks, guys, I'll put up a link when it gets published, be it by this magazine or by another.

Way to spoil the story man.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
So, update: there's a magazine that wants the story, but they're not my first, second, or even fifth pick, and I've been getting replies on submitted work at such a rapid rate these last few days that it's conceivable that another, better magazine, might ask for it tomorrow, or even today, so I'm going to see about waiting a day or two before replying to them.

Pretty cool, man.

If something was from the future it would mean that a white hole had been harnessed. It might happen soon with all the technological advances.

Why even have the cops tell him it's from the future? Why not just have them tell him that as far as they can tell it's his own skeleton and they're perplexed by it. He can figure out through other means that it's from the future. Or you can lead the reader to come to that conclusion without straight up saying it.

Originally posted by BackFire
Why even have the cops tell him it's from the future? Why not just have them tell him that as far as they can tell it's his own skeleton and they're perplexed by it. He can figure out through other means that it's from the future. Or you can lead the reader to come to that conclusion without straight up saying it.

Have you considered murdered twin brother from the future?

Sounds like a cool premise, OV, and congrats on the prospect of getting it published.

I'm thinking journal found near the skeleton.

With specific future dates outlining specific events that absolutely unfailingly come true. Future events described by future self as history that can, shockingly, be seen unfolding AS history.

2nd idea is to find a "miracle" substance or device on the skeleton. Which conforms to nothing the present age can produce. Or contains some element that, when sent to a lab, cannot be identified with anything currently known from the periodic chart.

Sadly, my mind cannot conceive now of how this would not wind up being some sort of scifi "horror" story. No work I can think of that follows the above premises ends well for the protagonist.

With the level of technology we have now the answer to your question would be "absolutely not". On the other hand since this is a story about time traveling skeletons that isn't really a big issue.

Plus you could go the route of just handwaving this with a really bad joke. So the guy's skeleton from the future has shown up. How? Well, I guess he had a BONE to pick with his past self. Then you cue the laughter and the subject is never mentioned again.

Add some gold grills and u my friend got a pilot episode for a mini series...

Yes, we all like mini series....

The story has been published:

http://www.mountisland.com/old-bones.html