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DeLorean Time Machine

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The DeLorean Time Machine was Dr. Emmett Brown 's most successful invention, a plutonium -powered time machine built on a DeLorean DMC-12 sports car that had to reach 88 miles per hour in order to time travel .

On November 5 , 1955 , Doc was standing on the edge of his toilet , while hanging a clock in his bathroom. The porcelain was wet, making Doc slip, fall and hit his head on the sink. When Doc came to, he had a vision of the flux capacitor in his head, and drew a crude schematic diagram as well as scrawling some hurried calculations. The capacitor was constructed afterward and completed in 1985 . The actual construction of the components for the finished machine took Doc 30 years and most of his family fortune to complete.

• 1.1 The First Test
• 1.2 Trapped in 1955
• 1.3 To the Future
• 1.4 Alternate Timeline
• 1.5 The Old West
• 1.6 Destruction
• 1.7 Rebirth of the DeLorean
• 1.8 In 1931B
• 2.1 Construction of the DeLorean for the films
• 2.2 In pop culture
• 3 Appearances
• 5 Notes and references

History [ ]

Doc purchased the DeLorean DMC-12 from a seller named Robert , who had advertised it in the classifieds section of the August 11 , 1984 issue of the Hill Valley Telegraph .

Another source claims that Doc bought a used 1981 DeLorean from Rudy Russo for $13K at New Deal Used Cars , Valley Road, on February 3 , 1984 . [1] This car may have become the second DeLorean time machine kept in Doc's secret lab after the destruction of the original.

The First Test [ ]

Doc and Marty stand in the fire trails left behind by the DeLorean on the first test.

Doc Brown revealed his creation to his friend Marty McFly at Twin Pines Mall , in the early morning of October 26 , 1985, and for its first test, Doc sent his dog Einstein one minute into the future. With Marty recording on a video camera, Doc first used a sophisticated remote controller to send the car to the far end of the parking lot. With the car's brakes applied, he revved up the engine to 65 MPH. He released the brakes sending the car hurtling towards Doc and Marty, gaining speed. A bright glow developed at the front of the car and then engulfed the vehicle. The coils lit up, internal circuits glowed, and the flux capacitor fired rapidly. Suddenly the car seemed to explode just before it hit Doc and Marty. Fire trails then scorched the pavement where the vehicle would have passed through, completing the temporal displacement sequence. Looking over his instruments, Doc suddenly let loose with a scream of triumph, overjoyed that the reaction took place at exactly 88 mph.

For Einstein, the trip was instantaneous, but to Marty and Doc they had to wait exactly one minute to catch up to Einstein in the timeline. In the meantime, Marty asked why a DeLorean was used. Doc explained that it needed some style and implied that the stainless steel construction of the car helped it in temporal displacement. But Doc didn't fully explain why because the watch he was wearing at the time beeped, warning him that the DeLorean's return was only seconds away. Doc quickly grabbed Marty, hauling him aside.

The car suddenly appeared where Doc and Marty were standing and screeched to a halt as a frozen shell. Super-cooled from traveling through time, the gullwing door was troublesome for Doc to open while using his hands. Inside the car, Einstein was unharmed, much to the surprise of Marty. Doc then showed Marty the interior and its controls.

While inputting dates on the keypad, Doc used July 4 , 1776 (the date the American declaration of Independence was signed) and December 25 , 0000 (the date of the birth of Christ) as examples, before inputting "a red-letter date in the history of science, November 5 , 1955 ". From there he left the cockpit of the DeLorean and reminisced about the past, particularly about Old Man Peabody owning the land that is now Twin Pines Mall and his pine tree farm .

Marty asked if the car ran on normal gasoline to which the Doc replied that the car required a more powerful fuel: plutonium. The car's components were electrically based but a nuclear explosion was needed to generate 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to send the car through time. Marty was stunned that the Doc had come into possession of the dangerous substance and asked how he was able to acquire it. Taking a cautious tone, Doc explained that he'd made a deal with a group of Libyan nationals (terrorists) who demanded he build them a bomb. Doc cheated them, giving them a "shoddy bomb casing, filled with used pinball machine parts". Giving Marty a spare radiation suit, Marty continued to film as Doc inserted another pellet of plutonium into the car's miniature nuclear reactor.

Trapped in 1955 [ ]

Soon after a new pellet of plutonium was inserted into the time machine, the Libyan terrorists suddenly appeared in a Volkswagen Station Wagon and shot Doc dead. Marty ran into the DeLorean to try to escape the Libyans. Marty accidentally turned the time circuits (still set to 1955 ) on while shifting, and as he avoided being destroyed by a rocket-propelled grenade , he reached 88 mph and entered temporal displacement . Suddenly, Marty went from a mall parking lot in 1985, to a field in 1955, and the DeLorean crashed into a scarecrow and then the Peabodys' barn.

A radiation suit -clad Marty trips as he leaves the DeLorean.

For a moment, Marty was stunned, and the Peabody family ran from their house to the barn to investigate. Believing that the vehicle was from another world, they screamed in horror as Marty lifted the gullwing door and stepped out, dressed in a radiation suit . Marty was almost shot from the buckshot of Otis Peabody's shotgun , and ran back to the safety of the time machine, floored the accelerator, and smashed through the doors of the barn. After escaping from Peabody's shotgun, the car ran over one of the two pines that Peabody had been growing. This was the first effect of Marty's trip into the past that would alter the future (the "Twin Pines Mall" would become the "Lone Pine Mall").

The DeLorean at Lyon Estates in 1955.

Racing down a highway, Marty babbled about how the whole experience was a nightmare. Looking to his right, he screamed to a halt in front of the future site of Lyon Estates . He immediately stopped and viewed the undeveloped land that would be his family's future home stretch far out into the distance. A meter in the DeLorean indicated that it was out of plutonium , and the car shut down. Marty failed to get it running again and decided to hide the DeLorean behind the Lyon Estates sign, covered by a few shrubs, and walked the two miles to town .

After convincing the 1955 Doc that he was indeed from the future, Marty and Doc went back to the site to recover the time machine. Doc opened the door and turned on the flux capacitor which he had envisioned after his fall earlier that day. The DeLorean was driven back to Doc's garage where it was hidden under a tarpaulin until the night of the thunderstorm, November 12 .

On the 12th, Doc brought the time machine to Courthouse Square in downtown Hill Valley, and started working on the cable assembly that would harness the impending lightning strike. Arriving late, Marty was briefed by Doc, just as the storm moved in and took down a tree. Marty drove the DeLorean to the starting line at the Bluebird Motel , and inserted a tall connecting hook into the flux capacitor. He then waited for the alarm to go off while Doc reconnected the cable, and decided to reset the controls to arrive 11 minutes earlier than scheduled. With that, the engine suddenly died, and left Marty trying to restart it. Marty finally (and unexpectedly) succeeded in restarting the engine after head-butting the horn in frustration, and took off. The DeLorean reached the cable just as the lightning struck, and Doc made the connection, sending the time machine back to 1985 but leaving the lightning hook behind, hanging from the cable.

In 1985, Red the Bum was awakened by the sonic boom of the DeLorean, followed by the sound of a crash at the Town Theater . Marty jumped out of the icy time machine to check out downtown and to verify that he had gotten back to the future, and back to his normal year of 1985. Returning to the car to save Doc, Marty tried to drive off and the engine died once again. This was the last time in the trilogy that it had done so. The Libyans passed him on the street, and Marty ran back to the mall. There, he saw the first DeLorean make the jump to 1955, with the terrorists' van crashing into a photo booth . Originally believing he was too late, Marty was in grief, then surprise. Doc recovered, and revealed that he was wearing a bulletproof vest , having read the warning letter that Marty had written 30 years earlier.

Doc returned to downtown to start the DeLorean up, and drove Marty back to his home in Lyon Estates. Doc told Marty he would go roughly 30 years into the future, "a nice round number". Doc backed the DeLorean up with enough room to reach 88 mph on the street and vanished in three sonic booms.

Doc in the flying DeLorean.

While in the future, Doc decided to give the DeLorean a now standard hover conversion . To afford this, he traveled back to 1938, and bought several copies of Action Comics #1. He sold them for $2.5 million in 2015, and flew off in the newly converted DeLorean. At some point, he discovered that Marty's children were destined to accidentally go to prison, which would eventually destroy the McFly family.

To the Future [ ]

The DeLorean lifts off, bound for 2015.

Doc returned to the McFly residence, the morning after he left. Marty had discovered that his life had changed for the better. His visiting girlfriend Jennifer Parker , and he, were interrupted by the sonic boom and wind blast. The newly upgraded DeLorean knocked over some trashcans, and a futuristic clothed Doc emerged from the vehicle. Doc made use of his upgraded time machine by adding garbage to the Mr. Fusion as fuel. Plutonium was no longer needed after the trip to the future. Doc told Marty and Jennifer of their future family, and the trouble that occurred (or would occur) with their children.

The DeLorean lifted off the ground and its wheels folded providing thrust. The rear louver then propelled it forward down the street, and Doc turned the car around to get the speed needed to make temporal displacement. This entire sequence was witnessed by Biff Tannen in the McFly driveway. The time machine entered October 21 , 2015 , then descended through the clouds into a busy skyway , nearly in the wrong lane of multilevel traffic. Doc pulled off onto an exit ramp to downtown Hill Valley. He landed the DeLorean in an alleyway , just outside Courthouse Square, then left while Marty completed his mission to save Marty, Jr. After Doc recovered Einstein from a suspended animation kennel , he pulled the DeLorean out into the open, where Old Biff saw it, and eventually put two and two together to realize that they were time travelers.

Biff steals the DeLorean.

Biff followed Doc and Marty in a taxi cab, and while the DeLorean was parked outside Hilldale , Biff stole it and went back to 1955 to hand the Grays Sports Almanac (that Doc had thrown away) to his younger self, therefore altering history . In a matter of minutes, Biff returned the vehicle in the same position; however, he was feeling the effects of changing history. In pain, he left the silver-colored plastic bag and receipt for the almanac, as well as the top of his cane which broke off in the DeLorean when he doubled over. Getting out of view, Biff slumped to the ground and faded from existence behind a parked car. Doc and Marty, unaware that anything had happened, returned to the time machine with Jennifer and headed back for 1985.

Alternate Timeline [ ]

By this time it was too late to prevent the changing of the timeline. Flying at a high altitude, the DeLorean was nearly hit by an airliner in the sky. The time circuits began to malfunction as well, indicating 1885 temporarily. After discovering the truth behind the alternate 1985, Doc and Marty left Einstein in Doc's garage, and Jennifer at her house, where time would alter around them pending a change in the past. They traveled back to November 12 , 1955, the date that Biff revealed to have been the day he had gotten the almanac.

Doc hooks onto the pennants.

Doc parked the time machine behind the same sign that Marty hid it the first time in 1955. Marty notified Doc of his status with Biff, and after some repairs, Doc jumped into the DeLorean to pick him up at Hill Valley High School . As Doc left Lyon Estates, the car had hooked onto some of the pennants on the sign. Doc and Marty followed Biff in his car, and hovered over him, until Marty thought of using the hoverboard to get closer. Marty grabbed the almanac after some fighting, but was faced with being in the middle of a long tunnel from which to escape. At the end of the tunnel, Doc dropped the string of pennants that he had hooked onto earlier, and Marty grabbed the rope in time to prevent himself from getting run over by Biff (who crashed, for the second time in a week, into a manure truck).

Returning to Lyon Estates to destroy the almanac, Doc lowered Marty onto the ground, but deemed it unsafe to land the DeLorean in the storm. Marty successfully burned the almanac in an old bucket, reverting all effects that had been created by 2015 Biff. The celebration was short-lived; lightning struck a tree close to Marty, who warned Doc about getting struck himself. In the next instant, however, lightning struck the DeLorean as feared, spinning it up to 88 mph (thus creating the fire trails in the shape of backward 9's), scrambling the circuits, and sent Doc and the DeLorean back to January 1 , 1885 [2]

Less than a minute later, a man, representing Western Union , appeared on the rainy street and handed Marty a letter. The letter , from Doc, had been held in their possession for over 70 years, with instructions for delivery to that exact position, at that exact moment, to that exact person — Marty.

Marty ran back downtown, arriving just moments after his other self was going back to the future, and after the temporal displacement, he encountered 1955 Doc, who then fainted.

The DeLorean inside the mine.

An unused photo of Doc and Marty uncovering the DeLorean inside the mine. Note the car's tires are intact.

The letter, read the next morning by Doc, stated that the DeLorean was buried in the Delgado Mine , and provided repair instructions on fixing the time circuits with 1955 parts. At the Boot Hill Cemetery , outside the mine, Marty and Doc stumbled onto 1985 Doc's tombstone from 1885. It was now Marty's mission to save Doc in the past, and bring him back to the future as well.

Doc replaced the rotting tires with new whitewall tires and, working from the schematic diagram provided with the repair instructions, replaced all the broken instruments with 1955-era vacuum tubes and other components. He also put gasoline in the tank, since 1985 Doc had to drain all the fluids from the car, including the gas, before putting it into long-term storage.

The Old West [ ]

The DeLorean encounters a tribe of local "Indians" (Native Americans.)

1955 Doc and Marty set up at the Pohatchee Drive-In Theatre , far away from town, so that Marty's arrival would not be noticed by residents in 1885. Doc set the time circuits to the day after his 1885 counterpart sent the letter on September 1 . Marty hesitated to drive at the screen because of a wall with Native Americans painted on it; but as Marty reached 88 mph, the 1955 wall was gone, but was replaced with real, 1885, Pohatchee Native Americans, who chased after the DeLorean, which Marty hid in a bear cave .

Marty avoided the Natives, and the U.S. Cavalry that was chasing them, but discovered that one one of the Natives had shot an arrow into the engine of the DeLorean. Upon removing the arrow, Marty accidentally tears a hole in the fuel line of the car. He pays it no mind as he is chased out of the cave by the bear living there at the time, and fell down the hill and landed on the property of his Irish ancestors. The DeLorean was recovered by Doc, but there was no gasoline available in 1885 to replace the fuel that had leaked out. [3]  Marty wasn't concerned as he stated Mr. Fusion could refuel the DeLorean. Doc said that was impossible as the engine always ran on gasoline and Mr. Fusion only powered the flux capacitor and the flight circuits. Doc then plotted means of powering the car, including having his horses try to reach 88 mph out in the desert, they only made 20-30 mph.

Doc received a strong alcohol concoction from the town bartender, Chester , that he hoped would have a similar effect to gasoline, but instead, blew the fuel injection manifold out. This left only one available option: pushing the DeLorean up to 88, which came in the form of a locomotive . Doc and Marty's plan was to hijack, or borrow , the locomotive, and take it to an unused spur that ran to Shonash Ravine , where it would push the car before running off the end of the track. On the night of September 6 , Doc placed the car (which had its tires replaced with steel rims to allow it to run on rails) onto the track. There, it awaited the locomotive.

Their plan was successfully enacted on September 7 , and though Marty was sent back to 1985, Doc and Clara Clayton remained in the past. The DeLorean reached temporal displacement just before hitting the buffer at the edge of the ravine; however the train crashed through and landed into the ravine in a large explosion.

Destruction [ ]

The DeLorean is destroyed by the Alco S6 locomotive .

Back in 1985, the DeLorean traveled along the railroad tracks for about a mile until it came to rest on the track outside Hilldale. Immediately, Marty was stunned to see a modern locomotive barreling towards him, and escaped from the DeLorean just before it was destroyed by the train. After it had passed by, Marty gazed at the time circuits and flux capacitor in shock just as they flickered on and then off for the last time.

Marty and Jennifer, who had remained on her porch, both went through the wreckage. Then, peculiarly, the railroad crossing's bells sounded and its gates went down. No trains were to be seen. Just then, the Jules Verne Train appeared, and blew Marty and Jennifer back several feet. This was Doc's way to return without the aid of the DeLorean. After introducing Marty and Jennifer to the two new members of the family, Jules and Verne , Doc handed Marty a gift — the photograph of them standing in front of the clock — and gave some words of advice before leaving to times unknown.

Just before its destruction, the DeLorean can be seen to have parts from every time period it has been in. Inside the time machine was also a walkie-talkie from 1985A.

Rebirth of the DeLorean [ ]

Six months after the destruction of the DeLorean, another DeLorean time machine, nearly identical to the one used previously by Marty and Doc, appeared outside of Doc's garage . Upon following Einstein's clues to the source of the time machine, Marty drove it back to 1931 , where he found Doc in jail for allegedly blowing up a speakeasy . Doc told Marty that the DeLorean he had been driving was a temporal duplicate , created when the DeLorean was struck by lightning ; the original going seventy years back to 1885, and the other version seventy years forward to 2025 . Doc went forward in time with the Jules Verne Train , recovered the second DeLorean, fixed it up, and began traveling again. Doc also installed a program that would activate upon Doc not returning to the vehicle within a certain length of time. This automatic retrieval feature allowed the DeLorean to return to a set time and location of Doc's choosing. [4]

Around 1991 , Doc Brown and his family returned to Hill Valley in the Train and settled down in the present. Marty had, by now, been attending Hill Valley College , and he visited the Brown family regularly. The DeLorean was rebuilt with added features , including a new audio receptive series of time circuits, submersible capabilities, a pincer, and having the ability to fold into a compact suitcase-sized box (which still weighed as much as the car at 2,796 pounds [5] ). The greatest improvement to the DeLorean was the addition of spatial displacement , which allowed the car to travel not only through time, but through space as well.

Soon after, Doc built additional DeLoreans for use by the Institute of Future Technology , with the original being placed on display right outside the building.

In 1931B [ ]

The DeLorean time machine burned out after Edna burnt down Hill Valley .

One version of the DeLorean was stolen by Edna Strickland who took it back to 1876 to light Beauregard Tannen's half-finished saloon on fire, accidentally burning down Hill Valley and the DeLorean in the process. When Doc and Marty arrive at her residence in the newly created 1931B , the vehicle is a rusted hulk of metal on Edna's property.

Behind the scenes [ ]

A rack of vacuum tubes and other components strapped to the hood replaces the time control microchip.

• In the animated series, the DeLorean is supposedly rebuilt, regardless of what Doc said about the dangers of time traveling.
• Coincidentally, the final version of the time machine was composed of stainless steel, from which many refrigerators are made of.
• At the end of Back to the Future , the alarm clock that the 1955 Doc had placed on the dashboard of the DeLorean could be seen. But in the beginning of Back to the Future Part II , it is no longer on the dashboard of the DeLorean.
• In 1989 , to tie-in with the theatrical release of Back to the Future Part II , Funrise, Inc. released as part of their Micro Action Super Cars series a three-vehicle pack, consisting of the DeLorean Car (Modified Engine) , the Back to the Future Police Car and the Back to the Future Taxicab . The rear of the packaging featured three cutout Collector Cards which, in the cases of the Police Car and the Taxicab, gave a little more information about the vehicles than was mentioned in either the movie or the novelization.
• At the start of the 1990 behind-the-scenes TV show The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy , host Kirk Cameron arrived in an Old West town in the DeLorean.
• The DeLorean uses a manual transmission .

Construction of the DeLorean for the films [ ]

The base of the DeLorean's nuclear reactor was constructed from a hubcap of a Dodge Polara . The engine sounds came from a Porsche but the engine was never replaced with a Porsche engine and kept stock. [6]  Aircraft parts and blinking lights were added for additional effects.

Since all American models of the actual DMC-12 had speedometers that only read up to 85 miles per hour, a modified instrument cluster was installed, with a speedometer that reached 95. (A law from the administration of President Jimmy Carter prescribed that automobile speedometers could not read more than 85 m.p.h. with the intent that if people could not read speeds higher than that, that they wouldn't drive faster than that.)

In pop culture [ ]

The cutout Collector Card for the toy DeLorean Car (Modified Engine) (top right-hand corner) on the rear packaging of Funrise Inc.'s Back to the Future Part II three-vehicle pack.

The Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine defines a "delorean" as a unit of power equal to 1.21 jigowatts, and uses 88 miles per hour as a benchmark for comparing speeds. See: " speed cheetah ".

In the game Borderlands there is an achievement on the Xbox 360 version titled "1.21 Gigawatts."

In the game Sonic CD (4th generation iPhone/iPod exclusive) there is an achievement called "88 miles per hour." Sonic's time travel effects are similar to Back to the Future , and also require speed.

Similarly to Sonic CD, there is a trophy for the PS3 exclusive game Ratchet and Clank (Future): a Crack in Time called 88 MPH, earned by preventing time travel.

In Grand Theft Auto V , there are several power stations which have the label "Danger: 1.21 GW."

In Grand Theft Auto Online: Doomsday Heist, a weaponized version of the DeLorean named the "Deluxo" was introduced, and, like the Time Machine, it can fly, but it also comes equipped with machine guns and homing missiles. However, the Deluxo is not equipped to time travel.

The DeLorean Time Machine appears in Ready Player One as the vehicle of the protagonist Parzival in the OASIS. Parzival uses the DeLorean to win the race that is the first challenge and then speeds through the battlefield in the car during the final battle. The DeLorean is destroyed by Mechagodzilla during the final battle.

Appearances [ ]

• Back to the Future trilogy
• Back to the Future novelizations
• Back to the Future: The Story
• Back to the Future: The Ride
• Back to the Future (video game)
• Back to the Future Part II & III
• Super Back to the Future Part II
• The Earth Day Special (Non- canonical appearance)
• Universal Studios: Theme Park Adventure
• 2007 Microsoft TechEd Conference Keynote introduction (Non- canonical appearance)
• Back to the Future: The Card Game
• The Simpsons Ride (Non- canonical appearance)
• Star Trek /Legion of Super Heroes #5 (Non- canonical appearance) [2]
• Back to the Future: The Game
• A Million Ways to Die in the West (Non- canonical appearance)
• Deer in the Headlights   (Music video for artist Owl City ) (Non- canonical appearance)
• LEGO Dimensions (Non- canonical appearance)
• Ready Player One (film)   (Non- canonical appearance)
• Back to the Future: The Classic Illustrated Storybook
• Issue 2 : " Science Project "
• Issue 1 (Also known as Autobot Gigawatt)
• Does Not Commute
• PowerWash Simulator (DLC Special Pack)

Gallery [ ]

Notes and references [ ]

• ↑ DeLorean Time Machine: Doc Brown's Owner's Workshop Manual ; "Doc Brown's Journals: 1946-1985", February 3, 1984; page 22.
• ↑ In Back to the Future: The Game it is stated that the unforeseen jump created a carbon copy that was sent to an unknown time period. The car with Doc lost its ability to fly, whereas the other one retained the trait.
• ↑ See Official Back to the Future FAQ , Question Number 1.20, for the filmmakers' explanation why Doc would not have used the gasoline from the DeLorean that had brought Doc to 1885.
• ↑ Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 1: It's About Time
• ↑ " Brothers "
• ↑ See [1] , As far as the rumors that one of the cars was fitted with a Porsche engine, Walser said that all the cars retained their original PRV V-6s; only the sounds of the De Lorean engines were replaced with those from Porsche engines.
• 1 Flux capacitor
• 2 Emmett Brown
• 3 Biff Tannen

How Back To The Future's Time Travel Works

If you read the words “time travel” on a site like CinemaBlend, you can almost be assured that one thing will instantly come to mind. With the smell of burnt rubber and a familiar twinkle of well-worn musical notes, you can bet that the Back to the Future trilogy is one of those things that almost immediately presents itself in the pop culture consciousness. But we’re not here to talk about whether or not Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s landmark sci-fi trilogy is good, we already know the original is one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. No, we’re here to talk about something much more important: how the time travel in the world of Doc Brown and Marty McFly actually works.

Better still, this academic exercise in temporal studies will open the door to even more examinations in how time travel works at the movies. Just as we’ve previously discussed with Avengers: Endgame , the subject of traveling through the past, present, and future of any given timeline is going to be something we’re going to invest a lot of time into. So if you like what you see here, there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow and/or yesterday waiting for you after! For now though, let’s go back… to the past, present, and future of Hill Valley, California!

The Time Travel In Back To The Future

Now, you can stop me if you’ve heard this story before, as Back to the Future itself has turned 35 this very year. However, a refresher is always a good idea when it comes to the moving pieces that you’ll see moving through the story of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s legendary sci-fi trilogy. So here’s a quick and basic rundown of what happened throughout the Back to the Future saga:

Who's Time Traveling

Throughout the course of three movies, we see Einstein the Dog, Marty McFly (Sr), Doctor Emmett L. Brown, Jennifer Parker, Biff Tannen, and Clara Clayton all zoom back and forth through time. Oh, don’t forget Jules and Verne, Doc and Clara’s kids. This concerns them too, though just barely.

From When To When

For the intents and purposes of the Back to the Future series, “the present day” is 1985. From that particular point on the timeline, the Back to the Future trilogy’s time travel adventures span between the final film’s trip to 1885 to the then far flung future of 2015 . Two stops in 1955 and a trip to alternate 1985 also take place, because who would have thought time travel was such a dangerous, life altering thing?

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The Purpose Of Their Trip

It all started with a science experiment in Back to the Future , which saw Doc Brown testing his time machine to see if it’d work. But then, Marty McFly accidentally goes back to 1955, and has to correct the mistake of throwing off his parent’s first meeting and falling in love. That’s a simple enough beginning, but then Marty has a double shot of intentional time travel adventures, as Back to the Future Part II starts with Doc bringing Marty and Jennifer to 2015 to save their kids from going to jail, but leads to having to correct old Biff Tannen’s betting streak starting in 1955, and preventing Doc from being murdered by Mad Dog Tannen in 1885. Last, but not least, Marty has to go home to 1985 when all is said and done; because the time continuum.

How Time Travel Happens In Back To the Future

The two main methods of travel in Back to the Future’s trilogy are a converted DeLorean and a converted locomotive. Both vehicles, whether through nuclear radiation, burning garbage, or steam power, need to get to 88 miles per hour, and generate a charge of 1.21 Gigawatts in order to do the thing. When your vehicle of choice hits those milestones, you’re going to see some serious shit… time travel shit!

One very important thing to keep in mind is you need to be mindful of where you’re travelling. The exact spot you’re traveling from is where you’ll arrive when you reach the date of your destination, and what was once a mall parking lot in 1985 could be a pine tree farm in 1955. Hover conversion is recommended, so that whenever and wherever you’re going, you won’t need roads. And thanks to some script changes early on in the franchise’s history, you won’t need Coca Cola either!

Can History Be Changed As A Result Of Time Travel In Back to the Future?

Oh boy, can it. Throughout Back to the Future history, we’ve seen the McFly kids almost wiped out of existence, Doc Brown almost murdered over a simple amount of money, and an entirely different 1985 where Biff Tannen runs Hill Valley, and is rich beyond his wildest dreams. There is a lot of history that’s almost changed in the Back to the Future saga. However, some pieces of history do change permanently, and for the better. One of the most classic examples of the perils of time travel, the Back to the Future trilogy is a single timeline, rewritten as events progress.

Artifacts like photographs, faxes, and matchbooks change as quickly as events are being changed in the timeline. So the better your chances of seeing an event come to pass, the longer that evidence is going to stick around. See also: Jennifer’s fax from Back to the Future Part II surviving until the end of Back to the Future Part III , when a newly wisened Marty rewrites his future by not engaging in 1985’s fateful drag race.

What Are The Consequences Of Time Travel In Back To The Future?

While Back to the Future’s time travel was a messy affair, the end result could be seen as a net positive. And the consequences present themselves in very similar scenarios that hit three main characters in pretty unique ways.

Doc's Consequences

As Doc Brown, his wife Clara, and their sons Jules and Verne are still traveling through the whole of space and time in their souped up locomotive, this could lead to even more chaos throughout the timeline. That’s great for a film and media franchise, but that’s horrible if you want to sleep at night knowing you won’t have to adjust for a consequences of an accidentally generated tangent timeline. Still, Doc got a happy ending, finally finding himself bound to a family he never even knew he wanted until he met Clara, whisking her away to be his companion for all of time and space. Now, why does that sound so familiar ?

Marty's Consequences

Seeing the consequences of the actions his children, his enemies, and even his own self take in their lifetimes, he learns to have more confidence in himself. Marty, much like Doc, found himself a changed man, in relationships that will keep him grounded. But learning not to give in to his more impulsive nature, and to turn the cheek when called a chicken, puts Marty on the presumed path to success as a musician; instead of the working stiff he’d have become if he got into the accident with the Rolls Royce. Like famed science fiction author/father George McFly once said, when you put your mind to it… you can accomplish anything. Which brings us to the evolution of Marty’s father being one of the lynchpins of the Back to the Future series’ altered history.

George McFly's Consequences

George McFly never traveled through time, but he certainly benefited from time travel.

When George McFly and Lorraine Baines first meet, their relationship begins out of pity after he falls out of a tree… while trying to creep on an undressing Lorraine. The course of their love runs in a safe and predictable manner, with a first kiss acting as the highlight to their steady but waning romance. However, once Marty helps his young father discover confidence, and thanks to the timeline presenting George with the opportunity to dethrone Biff Tannen as the big dog, the new George and Lorraine McFly are a pair of lovers that embrace romance and confidence. Proving that so long as you follow the rules of time travel, and know how to play a ripping guitar solo 30 years before it’s ever invented, you too could change the future for the better.

Let's Do Another One!

So there you have it: the world of Back to the Future’s time travel explained, in a simple guide! It’s a process that’s so much fun, we here at CinemaBlend are dedicating ourselves to keeping this subject going. Time travel is a well-beloved staple in sci-fi, and with so many variants on the subject, it’s a handy topic to be an expert on… just in case you find yourself somewhere, or some time, you don’t belong.

If there’s any particular time travel stories you’d like to send to our labs for deconstruction, feel free to suggest them in the comments below! As for the next time you’ll see us in the mood for time travel, it feels like a good time for a Star Trek! And dear readers, if you thought we went on a tangent about tangent timelines this time out, just wait until we break down one of the most iconic installments of that series, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home .

Though that could always change, as the timeline could always skew in the course of events between here and now. Wibbley wobbley, timey wimey… stuff always comes up, and you never know where or when you’ll be until you get there. So until our next meeting, don’t swipe any sports almanacs, and if a crazy wild-eyed scientist or a kid show up asking about this write up, send them our way. We’ve got some further questions we need to ask them. See you in the future!

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.

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How the Time Traveling 'Back to the Future' DeLorean Works (Infographic)

Inspired by an idea he had 30 years earlier, Emmett “Doc” Brown completed his time machine in October, 1985. Some of his first temporal experiments were trips to 1955 and the far-off future year of 2015. Here are some of the details behind Doc Brown’s breakthrough technology:

The key to time travel is the flux capacitor. The capacitor was designed by Doc Brown in October 1955 and was finally tested in October 1985.

This dashboard console  is where the time travel destination is set. Readouts include destination time, present time within the vehicle, and last time departed.

Originally fueled by radioactive plutonium, the time machine was modified in 1955 to run on the electricity in a lightning bolt. In 2015, a Mr. Fusion power plant was installed, allowing the time machine to run on practically any available matter.

On a trip to 2015, Doc Brown had a repulsorlift flying unit installed. The wheels swivel 90 degrees to deploy the flight thrusters.

To an observer, the departure of the time machine is a dramatic event. Lightning coils around the vehicle as the flux capacitor creates the time displacement field. The car appears to implode into a ball of plasma, and fiery trails are left by the car’s tires.

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Back to the Future Concept Artist On How DeLorean Time Machine Changed

It took a village to send Marty McFly back to 1955.

It took a village to send Marty McFly ( Michael J. Fox ) back to 1955. Recently chatting with SYFY WIRE over Zoom, Back to the Future storyboard artist and concept designer Andrew Probert recalled the iterative creative process that shaped the Uber-iconic DeLorean time machine featured in Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's sci-fi classic (the complete trilogy is now streaming on Peacock ).

Fans are probably aware of the fact that the time machine began life as a refrigerator before it was changed to a car. But were any other vehicle types considered once this tweak came down the pipeline? "It was a DeLorean right from the get-go," Probert said. Nevertheless, Gale had to rebuff offers from major automotive companies hoping to get their brand in a Steven Spielberg -produced blockbuster.

"There was this guy working at the studio, who was in charge of trying to get product placement for the picture," Probert continued. "He came to Bob and said, ‘Bob, I've got a great deal from Ford Motor Company if Doc Brown uses a Mustang instead of a DeLorean.’ Gale looked at the kid and said, ‘Doc Brown does not drive a f-cking Mustang.’"

For More on Back to the Future: The Tiny Tweak to Back to the Future's Ending That Made the Film's Final Twist Work Perfectly Back to the Future's Michael J. Fox Opens Up About Facing Death: 'I Don't Fear That' Back to the Future's Doc Brown Was Almost Played by a Very Different Kind of Star

How Back to the Future designed its iconic DeLorean time machine

The look of the temporally-displaced DeLorean began with a number of early sketches from the legendary Ron Cobb,  who passed away in September 2020  at the age of 83. "He designed the car in what seemed like just a week," Probert said. "He was so fast and so good."

Probert was also asked to submit an interpretation of the car, with his interior leaning more toward an "industrial design" that had the iconic flux capacitor "as a long energy device" running along the ceiling of the car.

"Because it would have been much easier for Doc Brown to say, ‘This is what makes time travel possible,'" he noted. "Putting it behind him, between the seats, the camera would not be able to see it while he was pointing at it, as verified by the fact that they had to actually cut to an insert shot of the flux capacitor. Mine would have [allowed for] a tilt up, to be able to see the flux capacitor glowing."

Per the official  BTTF  website , it was neither Cobb nor Probert who came up with the final look of the flux capacitor — it was actually  Special Effects Consultant Michael Fink , who also helped come up with the name. For context, Cobb proposed having the capacitor on the roof of the vehicle.

Cobb's interior, on the other hand, proved to be a better reflection of the pell-mell, on-the-fly invention style employed by Doc Brown ( Christopher Lloyd ). "Ron's was designed like a professor went to a parts store and bought stuff secondhand, which is so much more true to the feeling of the show," Probert continued. "Ron was was so totally intuitive when it came to matters like that and my hat's off to him, always."

Cobb then had to move on to other commitments, which meant the job of rounding out the rough edges fell to Probert.  His Wikipedia page  says as much:  "In 1984, he worked on Back to the Future, initially drawing storyboards but then continuing the design of the DeLorean time machine that had been started by Ron Cobb. "

"The producers weren't absolutely sold on what he gave them and wanted me to change it a little bit," he told us. "They gave me some requirements and then I added my take on it, and that's the car that they shot. So that's what it means, basically, by my finishing the design."

Those "requirements" mainly concerned the exterior of the DeLorean, which Probert originally sketched with "a small radar dish on top like you would see on a yacht, which they did not want," he admitted. When it came to refining Cobb's design, though, the producers asked for dual cooling vents flanking the car's nuclear reactor, in the vein of a  Mad Max -style, jerry-rigged vehicle.

"I gave them a redesign on the atomic reactor," Probert concluded. "Ron's was actually circular, but it was off to one side. So I centered it, gave it a different look, added a second vent, and then rearranged the flux emission bands around the car to what I thought covered the car a little better than what Ron had. Enveloping the car a little better in my opinion. That was basically it."

The complete Back to the Future trilogy is now streaming  on Peacock .

Originally published Nov 17, 2023.

• Back To The Future
• Universal Pictures

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Here Are the Schematics For the 'Back to the Future' DeLorean Time Machine

Time-Travel Coils (2).

It's hard to go too in-depth on a device that defies the laws of physics as we know them and contains several key components that can't and won't ever exist, but you can clearly see the pair of Time-Travel Coils, the Flux Capacitor between the seats, and the Nuclear Reactor in the back. 

Designed by Ron Cobb, an artist who also worked on Alien , and later tweaked and refined by Steven Spielberg's special effects team, the time machine took the form of not one but three real-world DeLoreans, each one tricked out with military and industrial surplus parts. 

The Back to the Future series got a whole lot about the future right , even if flying DeLoreans didn't wind up being one of them. But something this rad doesn't have to be real to be cool.

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'Back to the Future's Time-Travel Device Wasn’t Always a DeLorean

Are you telling me they built a time machine out of a DeLorean?

No movie epitomizes the 1980s better than Back to the Future . Pardon the pun, but to watch it now, 38 years later, is like stepping into a time machine. If you grew up in this era, Back to the Future is nostalgia-filled to the brim and overflowing. If you're younger, the film is a good look at what the decade was like. You'll not only see the styles and pop culture fads of the time but also hear what music was like in the '80s, like the still-awesome music from Huey Lewis and the News . Back to the Future was and is simply cool , and much of that goes to Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly. Fox was at the peak of his career, a television icon from Family Ties now taking over the multiplex as well. It wasn't just the star that was cool, but also his ride. Nothing beats that slick, metallic DeLorean with its gullwing doors. It wasn't only a car like few had ever seen, but in a time travel movie, the DeLorean was a time machine completely different from what we were used to. Without a change between page and screen though, the DeLorean's inclusion would have never been, and Back to the Future wouldn't be the classic it is now.

'Back to the Future' Underwent Many Changes That Made the Film Better

Before it became the beloved film that it is today, Back to the Future had to go through some growing pains. The most known example of the alterations it went through was the choice of Marty McFly. Michael J. Fox was wanted for the character, but with his busy schedule on Family Ties , it couldn't be. Eric Stoltz was the second choice for the lead in Back to the Future and was actually cast. Many scenes had already been filmed when producer Steven Spielberg realized Stoltz wasn't the right fit. He was a fine enough actor, but his lines came out more serious, rather than light and funny like they were looking for. It was then brought back to Fox, who pulled double duty, filming for both TV and a movie on the same day for weeks on end. Suddenly, the guy who was already a household name for appearing as Alex P. Keaton on our TVs every week became most known for Back to the Future instead.

The film changed in other positive ways as well. In a 2010 interview with CNN , Bob Gale , who co-wrote Back to the Future with director Robert Zemeckis , he talked about the small but very important changes that happened between the screenplay and the final product. Christopher Lloyd 's Doc Brown character was originally called Professor Brown. Universal head Sid Sheinberg requested the change to Doc, saying kids wouldn't like a character named Professor Brown. Professor Brown sounds more dry and rigid, like something out of a '50s movie, while Doc Brown is more modern and relaxed.

Sheinberg also wanted the name of Marty's mother changed to Lorraine in honor of his wife Lorraine Gray , best known for playing Ellen Brody in Jaws . Another alteration that had a big impact was changing who Doc Brown's pet would be. In the script, Einstein is not a dog but a chimpanzee. Sheinberg said no movie with a chimp ever made money and asked for Einstein to be changed to a dog instead. It's another small but significant change for the better. A chimp and a Professor Brown would have made Back to the Future feel hokey. For a time travel movie, it reeked of the cheesiness of decades past. So did Back to the Future 's original time machine itself.

'Back to the Future's Time Machine Was Originally Something Completely Different

The Back to the Future time machine wasn't always going to be a DeLorean. Sadly, it was going to be something much less interesting, a choice that if kept in would have made the movie dull. Bob Gale told CNN, "Way back in that second draft, it was going to be a 'time chamber,' not unlike a refrigerator, and Doc Brown had to carry it on the back of his truck. When we started figuring out how to make the movie, Bob Zemeckis had a flash of inspiration and said, 'It should be mobile. It should be built into a car. It could be a DeLorean.'"

An immobile machine is what we'd seen in so many time travel movies, from decades before to even in the '80s itself. In Bill & Ted , the time machine is a phone booth. The movie is fun because of its wacky characters and the crazy scenarios they're put in, but the phone booth time machine isn't all that fascinating, other than being a relic from its time. The TARDIS from Doctor Who is much the same way, with the time machine appearing as a police call box. While it's much more advanced than what Bill and Ted's contraption could do (more of a spaceship than a time machine) it was still somewhat limited. A chamber as a time machine for Back to the Future would have turned the film into something completely different. So many scenes wouldn't exist at all. Time really would have changed.

The Time Machine Being a DeLorean Made It More Active in 'Back to the Future's Plot

Having a cool car as a time machine prevented Back to the Future from feeling like another schlocky time travel movie. That clichéd sci-fi approach would have limited the film's appeal to a mass audience. The DeLorean made time travel cool. As Doc Brown says in the finished film the first time we see the DeLorean in the Twin Pines Mall parking lot, "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style." The DeLorean is the perfect time machine because it becomes an active participant in the plot. It wasn't passive, whereas a box would just sit there, only to be used when someone moved through time. There's only so much you can do with a boring immovable box. The DeLorean was its own character. It had its own fascinating and realistic design. A fast car made everything so much more exciting.

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Every time that car appears on-screen our hearts pump faster, we lean forward in our seats, and our eyes grow wider. A time travel movie just became a fun action flick with fast cars. Imagine how many scenes wouldn't exist without it. The Libyans couldn't chase a box through a parking lot. Marty couldn't drive a box out of a barn in 1955 he just wrecked into. You can't race a box down a street toward an impending bolt of lightning. A flying car in Back to the Future II is much cooler than a flying refrigerator. Or how about that epic finale at the end of Back to the Future III ? You're not pushing a chamber down a railroad track. A time chamber is clunky and repetitive, but the DeLorean opens things up. It allowed Back to the Future to move out of a narrow frame and spread its focus wider. It gave moviegoers something we'd never seen before, and we haven't been able to forget it since.

The Big Picture

• Back to the Future underwent significant changes, including replacing Eric Stoltz with Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, resulting in a light and funny tone.
• Small changes like renaming the character from Professor Brown to Doc Brown and changing Marty's mother's name to Lorraine added depth.
• The decision to make the DeLorean the time machine instead of a static chamber made the film more exciting and allowed for thrilling action sequences that wouldn't have been possible with a different time machine.

Doc Brown's Entire Back To The Future Timeline Explained

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) may be the main character of the Back to the Future trilogy, but Emmett "Doc" Brown ( Christopher Lloyd ) manages to have quite an adventure as well — one which starts before Marty's and keeps going long after Marty's is complete. In fact, none of Marty's romps through time would've ever come to pass if not for Doc's scientific curiosity, his drive to innovate, and of course, his fascination with time travel.

Although Doc Brown is never the central focus of Back to the Future , his actions often drive the story, and his journey as he bounces around in time runs the full gamut of human experience, from falling in love and having children to dying (twice) ... although not necessarily in that order. While Doc's timeline does overlap with Marty's quite a bit, they're not entirely the same, and tracing Doc's trajectory through the movies leads to some interesting places, splitting into seven separate timelines. To make sense of them, we'll start when Doc first invented time travel, and then follow him as he begins to jump back and forth through time.

Timeline A - Doc Brown gets the idea for time travel

There would be no Back to the Future trilogy without the invention of time travel, and there would be no invention of time travel without — appropriately enough — a clock. On November 5, 1955, Doc Brown decided to hang a clock over the toilet in his bathroom, and the rest was history (and the future ... and alternate history ... and alternate futures). While balancing on his toilet, Doc fell and hit his head, knocking him unconscious. When he came to, he'd had a vision of the flux capacitor, the device that makes time travel possible.

We don't know how long Doc spent translating his vision into reality, but sometime over the following 30 years, he was successful in creating a working flux capacitor, which he then set about installing in a DeLorean. Meanwhile, on November 12, a week after falling off his toilet, while Doc was likely still trying to make sense of his bathroom epiphany, the clock tower at the Hill Valley courthouse was struck by lightning. At the time, this event didn't seem related to Doc's tumble off his toilet, but eventually, they'd wind up inextricably linked.

Timeline A - Doc meets his doom

Three decades after inventing the flux capacitor, Doc finishes his time machine, but there's just one small hitch in testing it out. In order to run, his machine requires 1.21 gigawatts (perplexingly pronounced "jiga-watt" in the film) of power, which is significantly more than your average car battery can produce. Doc's solution? Just juice up the car with a little plutonium.

Of course, as Marty points out, plutonium is hardly something you can just buy at the store, but Doc has an answer for that, too. In a totally foolproof plan, Doc makes a deal with a group of Libyan terrorists to build them a bomb, steals their plutonium, and gives them a bomb casing filled with used pinball machine parts. What can possibly go wrong?

Turns out, quite a bit. In October 1985, Doc asks Marty to come help him document the first test of his time machine in the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall, but no sooner has he conducted a successful test with his dog, Einstein, than the Libyans show up, incensed that Doc has stolen their plutonium. Marty hides, but Doc knows he's been found and braces for his fate. Sure enough, the terrorists open fire and kill Doc as a traumatized Marty looks on. Marty then tries to escape in the DeLorean, still programmed by Doc for the day he first invented time travel, bringing him back to November 5, 1955.

Timeline B - Marty meets Doc Brown back in 1955

Not long after receiving his vision of the flux capacitor and bandaging the bump on his head, Doc Brown has just decided to test out his latest mind-reading invention when there's a knock on his door. When he opens it, a kid named Marty is standing there, claiming to be from the future and asking for Doc's help returning to 1985. At first, Doc doesn't believe him, but not only does Marty know how Doc got the bump on his head, but he's carrying a videotape that shows a much older version of Doc himself, purportedly testing out a time machine.

Convinced, Doc decides to help Marty hatch a plan to get him back to the future. Doc is initially stumped by the power requirements of the time machine, saying the only thing capable of producing the necessary 1.21 gigawatts is a bolt of lightning, but Marty then informs him that he does, in fact, know exactly when and where lightning will strike — the Hill Valley courthouse clock tower, on the evening of November 12, 1955.

Timeline B - Doc sends Marty back to the future

Over the course of the next week (November 6-12, 1955), Doc spends much of his time making models of the town and fine-tuning his plan to harness a bolt of lightning into the flux capacitor. Due to the tight deadline and much to his chagrin, Doc doesn't have time to paint his model or make it fully to scale, but somehow, he muddles through.

While Doc is trying to make sure all the pieces are in place to get Marty back to the future, a wrench is thrown into his carefully laid plans when he realizes that Marty has accidentally bungled the timeline, preventing his parents from ever falling in love. Horrified at the temporal implications of what Marty has done, Doc assists Marty in making sure his parents get together before Marty is erased from existence.

After successfully matchmaking Marty's parents, Doc and Marty prepare to channel the imminent lightning strike into the DeLorean, but before Marty climbs into the car, he tries to give Doc a letter predicting his future. Furious about the possible effects that knowing his own future could have on the space-time continuum, Doc refuses to read the letter and rips it up. Marty is clearly upset, but he doesn't have time to argue. Lightning strikes, Doc's plan is successful, and Marty disappears in the DeLorean.

Timeline B - Marty's note saves the day

We don't know how long Doc carries around the ripped-up pieces of Marty's letter, but eventually, he decides to tape the torn scraps of paper back together and reads what Marty wrote. When he does, he learns that on the night Marty travels back to the future , Doc will be shot and killed by terrorists. In the letter, Marty urges Doc to "take whatever precautions are necessary to prevent this terrible disaster."

Doc takes Marty's advice to heart (although it doesn't stop him from stealing from terrorists in the first place). This time, when Doc goes to the mall to test his time machine, he wears a bulletproof vest underneath his coveralls and survives the shooting. When Marty asks him what made him change his mind about the disastrous implications for the space-time continuum, Doc gives him an extremely scientific explanation: "I decided, what the hell."

Having survived his formerly fatal encounter with the terrorists, Doc decides his next trip in the time machine should be to the future. On October 26, 1985, accompanied by his dog, Einstein, Doc sets out for the year 2015.

Timeline B - Taking a trip to 2015

When Doc first arrives in 2015, everything about the future seems great. Cars are flying, clothing is self-adjusting, and movie theaters project holograms out into the street. Doc takes full advantage of the advanced technology of the future, placing Einstein in a suspended animation kennel while he modifies the Delorean with a hover conversion and adds a Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor to circumvent the need for plutonium. He also goes shopping for new clothes, picks up a sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generator, and visits a rejuvenation clinic to receive an "all-natural overhaul," which promises to add 30 to 40 years to his life.

However, while Doc is enjoying all of the amenities the future has to offer, he learns some troubling information about Marty's kids. It turns out that Marty's son, Marty Jr., falls in with Biff's (Thomas F. Wilson) grandson, Griff, and his gang, and he's with them when they rob the Hill Valley Payroll Substation. Marty Jr. is arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Even worse, Marty's sister, Marlene, then tries to break him out of prison, and is subsequently sentenced to 20 years for her troubles. Unable to abide this future for Marty's family, Doc returns to 1985 to get Marty and change the future.

Timeline C - Doc and Marty head back to the future again

Having successfully picked up Marty and his girlfriend, Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue), from 1985, Doc pilots the now-flying DeLorean back to the future to prevent the bad choices of Marty and Jennifer's kids. Once they arrive, Jennifer quickly becomes excited with all the possibilities that time travel presents, such as getting to see her wedding, and Doc immediately knocks her out with his sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generator, saying she was asking too many questions. After stowing a sleeping Jennifer in an alley amidst packages of silicon and laserdiscs, Doc gives Marty a crash course on 2015 (kids wear their pants inside out!), then sends him forward with instructions to keep his son from getting arrested.

While Marty heads to the Cafe '80s to meet up with Griff, Doc intercepts Marty Jr. and uses the same sleep-inducing device on him to keep him from interfering in Doc's plan. Doc then goes to pick up Einstein from the suspended animation kennel. After meeting back up with Marty, Doc learns that he's purchased a sports almanac that covers the years 1950-2000. Doc berates Marty for even thinking about meddling with the timeline, and he forces him to throw the almanac away. Doc and Marty then pick up Jennifer and return to 1985.

Timeline D - 1985 is all wrong

When Doc and Marty return to 1985 from 2015, the timeline has already split thanks to Old Biff's tinkering in the past, which means that although the 1985 that Doc and Marty left had only one Doc Brown, the one they return to has two. Unfortunately, the Emmett Brown native to Timeline D has been declared legally insane and committed to the mental ward of Hill Valley Hospital by 1985.

Quickly, the Doc Brown from Timeline B, who's just arrived back from 2015, realizes that something must've happened to alter the timeline in the past, and he heads to the library to do research. Through studying old newspapers, he learns of the unfortunate fate of his Timeline D counterpart and deduces what's caused the divergence in the timeline — the sports almanac Marty purchased in 2015, which he spots in an old photo of Young Biff. As it turns out, when Marty tossed it aside in 2015, Old Biff grabbed it, stole the DeLorean, traveled to 1955, and gave it to his younger self, ensuring a future where he could become insanely wealthy.

Doc explains the concept of diverging timelines to Marty, who decides to head to Biff's massive casino hotel to confront the bully. While Marty is talking to Biff, Doc pilots the DeLorean to hover just below the roofline of the towering building, which is fortunate, since Biff forces Marty up to the roof, where he intends to kill him. Marty jumps on top of the DeLorean, and Doc uses the car's gull-wing doors to knock Biff unconscious. Armed with the correct date — once again, November 5, 1955 — Marty and Doc head back 30 years to restore the timeline.

Timeline E - There are way too many Doc Browns running around

Back in 1955 once more, Doc and Marty work together to steal the sports almanac from Biff in order to restore the timeline. While there, they also have to work to avoid their Timeline A and B counterparts, who are still living through the events of 1955 Timeline B. Doc is sure that if they encounter themselves in the past, it could have disastrous implications on the space-time continuum.

After a few failed attempts, Marty is ultimately successful in retrieving the sports almanac from Biff, grabbing it from the bully's car while riding on a hoverboard after a medium-speed chase. Marty narrowly avoids a potentially fatal crash when Doc drops a rope down to him from the flying DeLorean and pulls him to safety. Doc then tells Marty to burn the almanac, which he does, and they confirm that the timeline is restored.

However, before Doc can land the DeLorean and pick up Marty to return to 1985, the car is struck by lightning, causing the time circuits to go haywire and transport him to 1885. Back in 1955, the Timeline E version of Doc helps Marty figure out how to repair the DeLorean so that Marty can go after him. This version of Doc also dresses Marty in a truly unfortunate "cowboy" outfit, so that he'll fit in when he travels back to the Wild West.

Timeline F - Doc Brown gets stuck in 1885

After realizing what's happened and that the DeLorean has been so damaged by the lightning strike that there's no hope of repairing it enough to return to the future, Doc resigns himself to remaining in 1885. First, he hides the DeLorean in a cave, and he leaves a letter with the Western Union for Marty, telling him how to fix the time machine so he can return to the future. Doc gives the Postal Service extremely specific instructions to hold the letter for 70 years, then to deliver it to the person they'll find at a precise location at a precise date and time.

Satisfied that Marty will be okay, Doc begins building a life for himself. He becomes a blacksmith, using his futuristic scientific know-how to invent things like a mechanical refrigerator and ice maker. After establishing himself in town, Doc is asked to pick up the new schoolteacher, Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen), from the train station, and the two quickly fall in love.

Tragically though, not long after meeting Clara, Doc shoes a horse for Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, which later throws Tannen off, causing him to break a $5 bottle of whiskey. Tannen shoots the horse, which he values at $75, and demands Doc pay for both. Doc refuses, and in retaliation, Mad Dog shoots him in the back, killing him.

Timeline G - Marty travels to 1885 to save Doc's life

After leaving the DeLorean for Marty and becoming a blacksmith but before meeting Clara, Doc rescues Marty from Mad Dog and his gang. (They were going to hang him, partially because of the outfit that 1955 Timeline E Doc picked out for him.) Initially, Doc is irritated that Marty traveled back for him, rather than returning to 1985 as he instructed, but after learning about his death in Timeline F, he agrees to return with Marty.

However, returning to 1985 proves easier said than done, since Marty nicked a fuel line in the time machine when he arrived in 1885, and there aren't exactly an abundance of gas stations in the Wild West. Without a way to self-propel the car, Doc hatches a plan to hijack a train and use the engine to push the DeLorean up to the necessary 88 miles per hour. However, after Clara and Doc meet and fall in love, she attempts to follow Doc onto the speeding train and winds up nearly taking a catastrophic tumble onto the tracks.

Instead of joining Marty in the DeLorean, Doc makes a split-second decision to save Clara instead, missing his window to return to the future. Marty goes back to the future alone, and Doc remains in 1885 with Clara. Fortunately, before stealing the train, Doc and Marty foiled Mad Dog's plans to kill Doc, enabling Doc and Clara to live their lives free of tragedy.

Timeline G - Doc Brown's future turns out pretty great

Some time after Marty departs for the future — and destroys the train by running it into a ravine — Doc and Clara get married and have two sons, Jules and Verne. During this time, seemingly inspired by his successful attempt to use a train to help facilitate Marty's time travel, Doc acquires a new locomotive engine, converts it to steam power, and modifies it to become a time machine.

Doc, Clara, and their children ride their new time machine all through the timeline, including a trip to the future where they update the train engine with hover technology and presumably a few other upgrades as well. When Jules and Verne are a few years old, Doc and Clara decide to make a stop in 1985 to pick up Einstein and to introduce Marty to their children. Doc gives Marty a framed photograph that they took together with the Hill Valley courthouse clock back in 1885, then he departs on his train for places and times unknown.

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Back to the Future – Time Machine

The DeLorean time machine is a time travel device made by retrofitting a DMC DeLorean vehicle with a flux capacitor. The car requires 1.21 gigawatts of power and needs to travel 88 miles per hour to initiate time travel.

Time Machine (Flux Capacitor) Requirements

The python code used to control the time machine will:

Python Code

Your challenge.

Write a Python script to work out the number of days between a specific date and today’s date.

For instance, if you would like to travel to the the Moon Landing Day: 16 Jul 1969. How many days would you need to travel back in time?

Your script will be very useful to configure the De Lorean time machine!

Your script should:

• Output the number of days between the two dates.

Solution...

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Screen Rant

How the delorean time travelled without going 88mph in back to the future 2.

Doc Brown's DeLorean had to reach 88 MPH to travel through time, but at the end of Back to the Future Part 2, it looked as if the rules were changed.

Back to the Future Part 2 seemed to break its own rule, allowing the DeLorean to time travel without reaching 88 MPH, but it turns out this isn't a pothole after all. Naturally, the beloved science fiction franchise is full of such questions and mysteries, and it often takes a bend of the imagination to make everything make sense. Whenever time travel gets involved, there are sure to be some paradoxes. However, in the case of Doc's jump to 1885 at the end of Back to the Future Part 2 , there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.

By the end of the second Back to the Future movie , Marty and Doc had become pretty familiar with the ins and outs of time travel. They jumped back to 1955, returned to 1985, traveled to 2015, and repeated this cycle several times before a final trip back to 1955. From here, The pair were ready to finally head back to their true time, 1985, once and for all. However, just as Doc and his flying DeLorean were about to return to the ground and pick up Marty, the time-machine car was struck by lightning and sent to 1885 . The problem is, the DeLorean wasn't traveling at the requisite 88 MPH when it jumped.

Back To The Future: All 8 Timelines In The Movies Explained

The delorean reached 88 mph thanks to being struck by lightning in back to the future 2, the delorean traveled at 88 mph in a rapid loop-de-loop.

The problem regarding the stationary DeLorean being sent back in time was spotted relatively quickly after Back to the Future Part 2 was released in 1989, and it has plagued many ever since. It was clear that the time machine still needed to get up to 88 MPH since Marty and Doc had to use a steam engine to get it up to speed at the end of Back to the Future Part 3 . So, the change didn't come down to upgrades made to the DeLorean in 2015 (which eliminated the need for plutonium after the first Back to the Future ). As it turns out, the answer is pretty simple.

The DeLorean did get up to 88 MPH. In fact, it likely traveled much faster than that.

According to Back to the Future creator Bob Gale , the DeLorean did get up to 88 MPH. In fact, it likely traveled much faster than that. When the car was struck by lightning while flying in the air, the vehicle was sent spinning on its axis . It looped around so quickly that the required speed was achieved, and between this and the power of the bolt of lighting (or perhaps Mr. Fusion), the DeLorean's time-traveling capabilities were activated. Of course, it all happened so quickly that Marty (and the audience) could barely see it. Still, there was clear evidence of this sudden loop-de-loop.

The Backwards 99 At The End Of Back To The Future 2 Explained

The mysterious number in back to the future part 2 didn't have a secret meaning after all.

Gale's answer about how the DeLorean got up to 88 MPH makes perfect sense when remembering the mysterious backward 99 that appeared in the sky in Back to the Future Part 2 . This number became the inspiration for a wide variety of fan theories. Some believed the number referred to different points where Doc and Marty had already traveled in time. The number nine was visible on street signs in both 1955 and 2015, and the backward 99 might have referred to Doc going backward in time. However, the truth is much simpler.

As previously explained, the DeLorean was thrown into a rapid loo-de-loop after it was struck by lightning, and since the speed was beyond 88 MPH, the car went back in time. Whenever the time machine jumped before this, fiery tire marks were left in its wake. Of course, this wasn't quite possible at the end of Back to the Future Part 2 since the DeLorean was flying in the air. So, the fiery tread marks were left floating in the sky instead. The backward 99 was just the visible path the car had taken to get up to speed after being struck.

Why The DeLorean Sends Doc Brown Back To 1885

A malfunction was responsible for kicking off back to the future part 3.

Another mystery connected to the DeLorean's spontaneous jump is why Doc traveled back to 1885 when the car was set to go forward to 1985. This was subtly answered moments before lighting struck at the end of Back to the Future Part 2 when Doc gave the time circuits a good old-fashioned punch to set them right again. Since they had been malfunctioning only moments before, it's no great surprise that a jolt of lightning would cause the dial to change from 1985 to 1885. Of course, without the letter that Doc arranged to be delivered to Marty, no one would have known precisely where he ended up.

Back to the Future Part II

*Availability in US

Not available

Taking up where the first movie left off, Back to the Future Part II sees Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to the year 2015, where their efforts to fix the future end up causing even bigger problems as Biff Tannen wreaks havoc across the timeline with the help of a stolen sports almanac. Martin J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd return in Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's second installment of their iconic trilogy.

Is Time Travel Possible?

We all travel in time! We travel one year in time between birthdays, for example. And we are all traveling in time at approximately the same speed: 1 second per second.

We typically experience time at one second per second. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's space telescopes also give us a way to look back in time. Telescopes help us see stars and galaxies that are very far away . It takes a long time for the light from faraway galaxies to reach us. So, when we look into the sky with a telescope, we are seeing what those stars and galaxies looked like a very long time ago.

However, when we think of the phrase "time travel," we are usually thinking of traveling faster than 1 second per second. That kind of time travel sounds like something you'd only see in movies or science fiction books. Could it be real? Science says yes!

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows galaxies that are very far away as they existed a very long time ago. Credit: NASA, ESA and R. Thompson (Univ. Arizona)

How do we know that time travel is possible?

More than 100 years ago, a famous scientist named Albert Einstein came up with an idea about how time works. He called it relativity. This theory says that time and space are linked together. Einstein also said our universe has a speed limit: nothing can travel faster than the speed of light (186,000 miles per second).

Einstein's theory of relativity says that space and time are linked together. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What does this mean for time travel? Well, according to this theory, the faster you travel, the slower you experience time. Scientists have done some experiments to show that this is true.

For example, there was an experiment that used two clocks set to the exact same time. One clock stayed on Earth, while the other flew in an airplane (going in the same direction Earth rotates).

After the airplane flew around the world, scientists compared the two clocks. The clock on the fast-moving airplane was slightly behind the clock on the ground. So, the clock on the airplane was traveling slightly slower in time than 1 second per second.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Can we use time travel in everyday life?

We can't use a time machine to travel hundreds of years into the past or future. That kind of time travel only happens in books and movies. But the math of time travel does affect the things we use every day.

For example, we use GPS satellites to help us figure out how to get to new places. (Check out our video about how GPS satellites work .) NASA scientists also use a high-accuracy version of GPS to keep track of where satellites are in space. But did you know that GPS relies on time-travel calculations to help you get around town?

GPS satellites orbit around Earth very quickly at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. This slows down GPS satellite clocks by a small fraction of a second (similar to the airplane example above).

GPS satellites orbit around Earth at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. Credit: GPS.gov

However, the satellites are also orbiting Earth about 12,550 miles (20,200 km) above the surface. This actually speeds up GPS satellite clocks by a slighter larger fraction of a second.

Here's how: Einstein's theory also says that gravity curves space and time, causing the passage of time to slow down. High up where the satellites orbit, Earth's gravity is much weaker. This causes the clocks on GPS satellites to run faster than clocks on the ground.

The combined result is that the clocks on GPS satellites experience time at a rate slightly faster than 1 second per second. Luckily, scientists can use math to correct these differences in time.

If scientists didn't correct the GPS clocks, there would be big problems. GPS satellites wouldn't be able to correctly calculate their position or yours. The errors would add up to a few miles each day, which is a big deal. GPS maps might think your home is nowhere near where it actually is!

In Summary:

Yes, time travel is indeed a real thing. But it's not quite what you've probably seen in the movies. Under certain conditions, it is possible to experience time passing at a different rate than 1 second per second. And there are important reasons why we need to understand this real-world form of time travel.

If you liked this, you may like:

Ukraine-Russia war latest: The big picture - what you need to know about the war in Ukraine right now

We'll be back with live updates tomorrow but for now you can read our overview of the war as things stand, and listen to a Sky News Daily podcast on the notion of the UK sending troops to Ukraine, below.

Monday 22 April 2024 17:18, UK

• The big picture: What's happening with the war right now?
• Analysis: Russia is exploiting Ukraine's lack of air defences
• Your questions answered: How long will it take for any aid to turn the tide militarily?
• Listen to the Sky News Daily above and tap here to follow wherever you get your podcasts

We've been keeping across the main developments in the Ukraine war today while our live coverage is paused - here's what's been happening.

Russian's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said the support of the United States, Britain and France for Ukraine could lead to a direct confrontation between the world's largest nuclear powers. 

"The Westerners are teetering dangerously on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," he said. 

"Of particular concern is the fact that it is the 'troika' of Western nuclear states that are among the key sponsors of the criminal Kyiv regime, the main initiators of various provocative steps. 

"We see serious strategic risks in this, leading to an increase in the level of nuclear danger." 

Poland offers to host NATO nuclear weapons

Meanwhile, Poland is prepared to host nuclear weapons belonging to other members of NATO, its president has said.

Andrzej Duda said that was in response to  Russia moving nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus .

"If there were a decision by our allies to deploy nuclear weapons within the nuclear sharing, also on our territory, in order to strengthen the security of NATO's eastern flank, we are ready," Mr Duda told the Fakt newspaper.

Promise of no 'delays or bottlenecks' on new US aid  

After a massive aid deal for Ukraine finally passed through the US House of Representatives (see post below), the Biden administration wants to start moving weapons and equipment into the country within days of its anticipated final approval, an official has said.

The legislation includes £48bn in military aid for Kyiv.  

The Senate is expected to pass it this week.

It will then go to Mr Biden.

Ammunition, air defence system interceptors and long-range weapons can begin moving "within days" once the bill has become law, a US official told Reuters.

"There won't be any delays or bottlenecks on the US side," the official said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed the new package from Washington will make little difference.

"The Russian armed forces are improving their positions at the front," he told reporters. 

"The money allocated and the weapons that will be supplied will not change this dynamic." 

Russia 'takes control of Ukrainian village'

Russia's defence ministry has claimed its forces have taken control of the Ukrainian village of Novomykhailivka, 25 miles southwest of Donetsk.

Ukraine's general staff said their forces continued to resist Russian attempts to advance near the village. 

Meta spokesperson sentenced for 'publicly defending terrorism'

Meta Platforms spokesperson Andy Stone has been sentenced to six years in prison by a military court in Moscow.

The jail term was handed down in absentia, RIA news agency reported.

Meta is designated an extremist organisation in Russia, while its Facebook and Instagram apps have been banned in the country since the Ukraine War began in February 2022.

RIA said state investigators accused Mr Stone of publishing online comments that defended "aggressive, hostile and violent actions" towards Russian soldiers involved in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. 

US House passes major aid bill

The big news of the week came from Washington, where a massive aid deal for Ukraine edged closer to being signed into law after months of hold-ups. 

In a major win for Ukraine, the $60.8bn (£49bn) bill was passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives - which had been the source of the delay. 

Republicans aligned with former president Donald Trump had been blocking the bill, but a cross-party effort managed to break months of deadline on Saturday. 

The package will go to the US Senate, where it is likely to be passed tomorrow and will then immediately be passed into law by Joe Biden. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was "grateful" for the decision - having spent months trying to persuade American politicians to send more weapons to Ukraine. 

The situation on the ground

And here's why that aid bill is so important to Ukraine. 

Russian forces have had an advantage in recent weeks, boasting both more men and weapons. 

Since Moscow took the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka on 17 February, they have been inching forward and swallowing up villages. 

They have made more marginal gains west of Avdiivka and Bakhmut, and now appear to be aiming for the small town of Chasiv Yar. 

Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyii, said Moscow wants to capture it by 9 May, which is Russia's Victory Day holiday. 

Yesterday, Russia said its forces had gained territory near the key battleground town. 

Military analysts believe if Chasiv Yar fell, it would open up Ukraine to attacks on the towns of Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in western Donetsk.

'We have a chance to take the initiative' 

So will the US aid bill make a difference? 

Mr Zelenskyy seemed to think so - but he warned it would depend on how quickly weapons are sent to Ukraine.

"Now we have the chance to stabilise the situation and to overtake the initiative, and that's why we need to actually have the weapons systems," the Ukrainian president told our partner network yesterday.

He said Ukraine had suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment due to the delay already, and warned that if weapons took another six months to arrive then the situation could deteriorate further. 

NATO to send more air defences to Ukraine

Ukraine's desperate pleas for more air defences appear to have got through to NATO, which has said it will make announcements on the matter in the near future. 

An emergency meeting between Mr Zelenskyy and NATO defence ministers was held on Friday as Russia's attacks on civilians escalated. 

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said after the meeting that defence ministers had "agreed to step up and provide further military support, including more air defence". 

Kyiv had been making ever more anguished calls for help with air defences due to a series of deadly Russian strikes. 

On Wednesday, a mid-morning attack on the city of Chernihiv killed 18 people and left another 78 injured. 

And on Friday, at least eight people were killed in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. 

Nuclear plant attacked 

On Tuesday, the chief of the UN's nuclear watchdog said three attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had been confirmed since 7 April. 

Rafael Grossi added the trio of attacks "have been performed with a multitude of drones", adding it was impossible to confirm who launched them.

Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for attacks on the site. 

Spy scandals continue

Away from Ukraine itself, spy scandals involving Russia continue to rock the wider European continent. 

On Thursday, Germany arrested two men for allegedly spying for Russia, with one planning to carry out attacks in the hopes of sabotaging aid intended for Ukraine.

It comes after the head of NATO said the alliance had expelled Russian nationals who were gathering intelligence. 

On the same day, a Polish man was arrested on allegations of being ready to help Russia's military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Mr Zelenskyy.

We are pausing our live coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine today.

We'll be back again with more updates.

Here's a round-up of today, which started with the deaths of at least eight people in a major Russian missile attack in central Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more air defences and said: "Russia must be held accountable for its terror, and every missile, every Shahed [drone] must be shot down."

In a speech after a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies on the Italian island of Capri, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it is "imperative" Ukraine gets more resources immediately to help it fight Russia.

"It needs more air defences, it needs more munitions, it needs more artillery - allies and partners including the G7 countries are committed to delivering on that," he added.

Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber "for the first time". Russia's defence ministry said the crash appeared to have been caused by a technical malfunction.

Two detained in Poland after hammer attack on Navalny aide

Two people were detained in Poland on suspicion of a hammer attack on Leonid Volkov,  the exiled top aide of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Mr Volkov had blamed Vladimir Putin for the attack and he thanked Lithuanian police for working "energetically and persistently" over the past month on his case.

"I am very glad that this work has been effective", he tweeted. "Well, we'll find out the details soon. Can't wait to find out!"

And a Polish man was arrested over allegations of being ready to help Russia's military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made an emotional appeal to NATO members, saying the current level of foreign aid for Ukraine is "very limited". 

The Ukrainian president said Israel had not been left to fend for itself during Iran's aerial bombardment on Saturday.

During that attack, Western allies had stepped in to help shoot down Iranian drones and missiles. 

"Putin must be brought down to earth and our sky must become safe again... And it depends fully on your choice... [the] choice whether we are indeed allies," Mr Zelenskyy said in his speech.

He said Ukraine needs a minimum of seven Patriot or other high-end air defence systems to counter Russian air strikes. 

Russia has recently intensified its bombardment of Ukraine, and the UN reported civilian deaths had sharply increased in March. 

NATO ministers have decided to supply more air defence systems to Ukraine, the organisation's secretary general has said.

Jens Stoltenberg said several NATO allies had made concrete commitments which he expected to be announced soon.

"In addition to Patriots, there are other weapons that allies can provide, including [French system] SAMP/T and many others, who do not have available systems, have pledged to provide financial support to purchase them for Ukraine," he told reporters in Brussels.

A Russian missile attack has damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Odessa region, the governor has said.

One person was injured, he added.

This map by the British Ministry of Defence shows the latest update on advances in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The head of the European Union's executive branch has visited Finland's border with Russia to assess the security situation there.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Finland's decision to close its border crossings with Russia over a surge in migrants was a security matter for the whole 27-member bloc to consider.

"We all know how Putin and his allies instrumentalise migrants to test our defences and to try to destabilise us," she said.

"Now Putin is focusing on Finland, and this is no doubt in response to your firm support of Ukraine and your accession to NATO."

Finland shares a 832-mile (1,430km) land border with Russia.

"This is not just about the security of Finland, but it is about the security of the European Union. We are in this together," Ms von der Leyen said after visiting the border in Lappeenranta with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

"We should be more Finnish when it comes to security."

Finland joined NATO in April 2023 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in a major blow to President Putin.

Slovaks angered at their government's refusal to give military aid to Ukraine have raised nearly €2m (£1.7m) in a drive to help supply ammunition to Kyiv.

Although ammo supplies are a pressing need for Ukraine after two years of war, Slovakia has refused to join a plan led by the Czech government to buy hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds for Ukraine.

"When I heard about the Czech government's initiative, I was very pleased to hear that all ways are being sought to help Ukraine defend itself against the [Russian] aggressor, because there is no other way," said Otto Simko, a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor and journalist who helped spearhead the Slovak crowdfunding campaign.

In a video posted on the crowdfunders' YouTube page he said Russia needed to be expelled from Ukraine so "peace can be spoken of on terms that suit Ukrainian independence".

Slovakia halted state military aid to Kyiv last year, arguing the conflict did not have a military solution.

It is "imperative" Ukraine gets more resources immediately to help it fight off Russia's invasion, the US secretary of state has said after a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies.

"It needs more air defences, it needs more munitions, it needs more artillery - allies and partners including the G7 countries are committed to delivering on that," Antony Blinken added.

Mr Blinken went on to say that if China wants better relations with Europe it cannot continue helping Russia while it attacks Ukraine, adding that Beijing was the primary contributor to Russia's defence industrial base.

He made the remarks after Kyiv's foreign minister said the G7 had identified "specific steps" needed to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia, Kyiv's foreign minister has said.

Dmytro Kuleba also warned Europe would be engulfed by war if Russia triumphed in its invasion.

"We identified specific steps which Western partners will make to help Ukraine," Mr Kuleba told reporters on the Italian island of Capri, where G7 foreign ministers are meeting.

He said the West had the capacity "to provide Ukraine with all necessary resources as soon as possible to save Europe from a larger war."

Meanwhile, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said the G7 was looking to see if it could use frozen Russian assets held in the West and not just the interest from the funds.

Mr Tajani said there was an established legal basis for using the interest from the frozen funds, but experts were now looking to see if the capital itself could be used to help Ukraine.

The West has frozen some $300bn (£241bn) of sovereign Russian assets, which the UK and US want to be used to pay for the Ukraine war effort - though European Union member states have questioned the legality of such a move.

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