The idea of time travel has fascinated humans for thousands of years, but it has always been a work of fantasy – until now.
Scientists have discovered evidence of real time travel, albeit on a microscopic level. Till Boehmer and Thomas Blochowicz are lead authors of a new study, Time reversal during aging of materialswhich was published in Nature physics.
The research, conducted by researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, focuses on effectively “mixing” time into the structure of certain materials such as glass.
It turns out that time doesn't behave in a completely linear way. The study looked at how the composition of materials changed over time.
Glass has one of the most amazing structures of all the items humans use every day.
Instead of following more traditional molecular structures, glass molecules are constantly falling into new places. As such, glass constantly reflects time at the molecular level.
To test this idea, the glass structures were observed using scattered laser light. They noticed the glass specimens pushing and shifting into new arrangements.
“The tiny fluctuations in the molecules had to be documented using a very sensitive video camera. You can't just watch the molecules vibrate,” Professor Plochowicz said.
Because of the way the glass moves internally in this way, it is not possible for scientists to say whether the changes are happening forward or backward.
It's a great idea – and while it won't bring humans any closer to being able to travel through time, it will certainly change the way we all think about some of the materials we use every day.
It comes after scientists released a new study that could change our understanding of what could be theoretically possible regarding time travel in 2023.
In essence, the research rules out the concept of everyone being able to travel back in time. The study stated that time in the universe can only go in one direction, and all of this is thanks to a new study about light and its relationship with other things.
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