Is Human Time Travel Next? Scientists Successfully Sent A Particle Back in Time

This article may contain affiliate links, learn more.

This article may contain affiliate links.

While the concept of time is something that we as humans made up to make life easier. What even is time? Time is important in our daily lives now, but at one point we lived by the sunrise and sunset.

Science tries to help us make sense of our world and attempts to understand how much we control, and how much happens around us. New discoveries can defy the laws of physics that we have relied on so far. Recently, the way we conceptualize time has been put into question. Scientists have just supported that theoretically, time travel is possible. Here's what that means for the world as we know it. Continue reading to learn more!

Click HERE to learn what Numerology says about your life using only your Birth Date.

Fictional Knowledge Of Time Travel

virtual-time-travel-2022-05-28-10-49-14-utc
Envato Elements / @francescosgura
Envato Elements / @francescosgura

Up till very recently, time travel was nothing but a concept of science fiction, meant to activate our imagination and entertain us.

The idea of time travel dates back to the 1800s when Wells published The Time Machine, a story about an inventor who builds a device that travels through a fourth, temporal dimension.

ADVERTISEMENT

Not Just Fantasy

ADVERTISEMENT
allison-saeng-2pBSSPe06KI-unsplash
Unsplash | Allison Saeng
Unsplash | Allison Saeng
ADVERTISEMENT

But what if time travel didn't just exist in the world of fantasy? This is a question that scientists try to answer at the risk of attempting to unlock a phenomenon not meant for our species. If the movies were right the price to pay could be lethal if we really do manage to figure out how to travel in time.

ADVERTISEMENT

For all, we know we could rewrite our whole story. You and I might never exist. Before we jump the gun here's what we know so far. Are you interested in learning more about the secrets of your universe? Tap into the 4,000-year-old science of Numerological Analysis with a FREE Numerology video report!

ADVERTISEMENT

Time Is A Made Up Concept

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
prague-astronomical-clock-2022-02-02-05-06-40-utc
Envato Elements / @f9photos
Envato Elements / @f9photos
ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks to some history-making scientists, we've made strides in our understanding of the universe and the makings of time. For instance, Einstein's equations brought us into the quantum realm and a more nuanced view of time.

ADVERTISEMENT

But mathematical logician Kurt Gödel took it one step further and worked out that Einstein’s equations allowed for time travel into the past.

ADVERTISEMENT

Scientists Took The Challenge

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
daniele-franchi-yKm2Ic2tarQ-unsplash
Unsplash | Daniele Franchi
Unsplash | Daniele Franchi
ADVERTISEMENT

The problem was there was still no found method that was compatible with our physical grounds. The answer to that was: "Why stick to physical grounds?" This was the question that inspired scientists from the Argonne National Laboratory, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and ETH Zurich.

ADVERTISEMENT

This was how they successfully sent a particle back in time.

ADVERTISEMENT

No Past, Present Or Future

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
pexels-martin-cheung-4388091
Pexels / Martin Cheung
Pexels / Martin Cheung
ADVERTISEMENT

Because of the laws of gravity and physics in general that we've imposed and taught in school, we consider time as linear with no way to access the past and no way of fast-forwarding into the future.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, this isn't an always agreed-upon statement.

ADVERTISEMENT

It's Not That Simple

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
frames-for-your-heart-rRX70iCT6o0-unsplash
Photo by Frames For Your Heart on Unsplash
Photo by Frames For Your Heart on Unsplash
ADVERTISEMENT

There are laws of physics that don't distinguish the future from the past and say that they all operate at the same time.

ADVERTISEMENT

This goes against the second law of thermodynamics, which states that a closed system always moves from order to disorder. If that didn't make sense, it's basically saying that once you fry an egg, you can't revert it back to the closed initial egg.

ADVERTISEMENT

Time Moving Linearly

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
hourglass-on-the-mirror-surface-2022-11-11-07-08-12-utc
Envato Elements / Powerofphotos
Envato Elements / Powerofphotos
ADVERTISEMENT

Because of that second law of thermodynamics, we assumed that time was linear and always moving forward. We called this the arrow of time.

ADVERTISEMENT

This means that once you crack an egg, it's irreversible.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rules Were Made To Be Broken

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
dominik-scythe-355_FmajY18-unsplash
Photo by Dominik Scythe on Unsplash
Photo by Dominik Scythe on Unsplash
ADVERTISEMENT

Like an arrow released, time moves in a single direction, and we witness the effect as time.

ADVERTISEMENT

That's why our human-made system of understanding time as moving forward works. But some laws are meant to be broken...Could this one be one of them?

ADVERTISEMENT

Testing Time Itself

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
waterproof-sport-watches-underwater-2021-09-01-01-20-04-utc
Envato Elements / @olegbreslavsev
Envato Elements / @olegbreslavsev
ADVERTISEMENT

We trapped ourselves by the second law of thermodynamics. It made sense for the way that we experienced the world. However, it didn't answer all of our questions.

ADVERTISEMENT

That's why an international team of scientists wanted to see if the second law could be broken in the quantum realm.

ADVERTISEMENT

Powerful Computers

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
allison-saeng-Zo9FjlFUOKM-unsplash
Unsplash | Allison Saeng
Unsplash | Allison Saeng
ADVERTISEMENT

Keep in mind that quantum computers don't work as simply as the computer you're reading this on. While traditional computers work with a binary system of 1 or 0, a quantum computer uses a basic unit of information called a qubit where both 1 and 0 exist simultaneously. This helps it process information much faster.

ADVERTISEMENT

In their experiment, the researchers substituted qubits for particles.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Quantum Process

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
modern-data-servers-glass-security-panels-technolo-2022-11-17-14-09-48-utc
Envato Elements / Zozulinskyi
Envato Elements / Zozulinskyi
ADVERTISEMENT

If you're interested in the details, the first step involved making sure the qubits were ordered, so that whatever happens to one, affects all the others too. Second, they launched an evolution program on the quantum computer, which used microwave radio pulses to break down that initial order into a more complex state.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pushing Back

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
allison-saeng-ASIEQiyP9j0-unsplash
Unsplash | Allison Saeng
Unsplash | Allison Saeng
ADVERTISEMENT

The third step moves them again, this time rewinding the particulates to their past, orderly selves. In simpler terms, this is the equivalent of pushing against the ripples of a pond to return them to their source, according to study author Valerii M. Vinokur.

ADVERTISEMENT

We Jumped Through Time!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
man walking on bride towards watch on wrist
Peshkov / Getty Images Via Canva Pro
Peshkov / Getty Images Via Canva Pro
ADVERTISEMENT

Quantum mechanics is about probability so nothing in it is ever guaranteed. Still however, the algorithm managed a time jump 85 percent of the time. That's considerable consistency!

ADVERTISEMENT

However every time they tried to increase the number of qubits to three, the success rate dropped to about 50 percent. The researchers published their results in Scientific Reports.

ADVERTISEMENT

Human Time Travel Isn't Happening Any Time Soon

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
man in space suit traveling in mechanical tunnel
Devrimb / Getty Images Signature Via Canva Pro
Devrimb / Getty Images Signature Via Canva Pro
ADVERTISEMENT

Unfortunately despite this leap in science, we can't all just jump in a time machine just yet. This experiment shows us that sending a particle back in time is possible but that it takes an incredible amount of work and outside manipulation. Considering that humans hold around 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (7 octillion) atoms or particles, there is still a lot of room for advancement with this research.

ADVERTISEMENT

A Big Task

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
pawel-czerwinski-9FFV995LYRM-unsplash
Unsplash | Pawel Czerwinski
Unsplash | Pawel Czerwinski
ADVERTISEMENT

"We demonstrate that time-reversing even ONE quantum particle is an unsurmountable task for nature alone," study author Vinokur wrote. “The system comprising two particles is even more irreversible, let alone the eggs — comprising billions of particles — we break to prepare an omelet.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Secrets Of The Universe

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Man looking up at the universe wit colorful starry sky
Greg Rakozy / Unsplash
Greg Rakozy / Unsplash
ADVERTISEMENT

As of now everything is still up in the air. Whether we will make it to a point where we can time travel is possible but unlikely, at least not in our lifetime.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to a press release: the "timeline required for [an external force] to spontaneously appear and properly manipulate the quantum waves" to appear in nature and unscramble an egg would extend longer than that of the universe itself.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Anything Is Possible

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
blue spirals in the galaxy
Daniele Levis Pelusil / Unsplash
Daniele Levis Pelusil / Unsplash
ADVERTISEMENT

Research and experiments are how we move forward. We've accomplished things other generations couldn't have even dreamed so who knows just how much further we could go. "Our algorithm could be updated and used to test programs written for quantum computers and eliminate noise and errors," says study author Andrey Lebedev.

ADVERTISEMENT

Many Possibilities

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
jeremy-perkins-UgNjyPkphtU-unsplash
Photo by Jeremy Perkins on Unsplash
Photo by Jeremy Perkins on Unsplash
ADVERTISEMENT

After all Time travel could also be possible if you traveled around two colliding cosmic strings, traveled through a spinning black hole, or stretched space via negative matter. So the options are endless!

ADVERTISEMENT

The Numerology of your birth date, regardless of your Zodiac sign, can help you discover detailed information about who you truly are and what is hiding in your subconscious. You won't believe how accurate it is!

Sign up for our newsletter here!