User blog comment:SouthWriter/Time Travel and/@comment-or Alternate Universes/@comment-1777104-20100813030925

Actually Red, the only places these vital principles may not hold is on a subatomic level. I understand your point, for "science" is just another name for "things as we know them." Our knowledge is very limited, but the "laws" of physics are observed principles in strict conditions -- called a "closed system." They are not valid in an open system that is acted upon from the outside. This leaves room for miracles - both in the absolute sense (by God) and the relative sense - "modern science."

For this reason, we can act upon natural processes, such as nuclear decay, and heat water with radioactive bars that we've put into "critical mass." Ordinarily, these materials would sit in the ground decaying and maybe giving some people cancer (radon). In such cases, when we manipulate systems for our advantage, we are that force outside the system. We don't change the principles, but we do sort of "break the laws."