Scientists discover evidence of time being reversed in historic study

The notion of time travel has fascinated humans for thousands of years, but it’s always been a work of fiction – until now.

Scientists have discovered evidence of time travel for real, albeit at a microscopic level. Till Bohmer and Thomas Blochowicz are the lead authors of a new study, Time reversibility during the ageing of materials, which is published in Nature Physics.

The research from the two researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany focuses on time effectively ‘shuffling’ in the structure of certain materials like glass.

It turns out that time doesn’t behave in an exactly linear manner. The study looked into how the composition of materials changes over time.

Glass features one of the most fascinating structures of all the items humans use every day.

Instead of following more traditional molecular structures, glass molecules actually constantly fall into new places. As such, glass is constantly reversing time on a molecular level.

To test this idea, glass structures were watched using scattered laser light. They observed the glass samples pushing and reforming into new arrangements.

"The minuscule fluctuations in the molecules had to be documented using an ultra-sensitive video camera. "You can't just watch the molecules jiggle around," said Professor Blochowicz.

Because of the way glass moves around internally like this, it’s not possible for scientists to say whether the changes are happening forwards or backwards.

It’s a fascinating thought – and while it won’t make humans any closer to being able to travel in time, it’ll certainly change the way we all think about certain materials we use every day.

It comes after scientists have released a new study which could change our understanding of what could be theoretically possible regarding time travel in 2023.

In essence, the research rules out the concept of every being able to head back in time. The study has stated that time in the universe can only go one way – and it’s all thanks to a new study into light and its relationship with other objects.

This article was first published on February 5, 2024

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