Hey there, have you ever had a bad day and wished you had a reversible clock that could rewind time? If not to relive the whole day, at least correct a few mistakes. Better still, have you ever wished you could stop or just have complete control over how you experience time? Well, you might be in a bit of luck as scientists have made an interesting discovery, which I’ll disclose in the rest of this article.

Scientists challenge our understanding of how time works

The fabric of time, as we know it, is one of many governing phenomena in our universe. It dictates how we live, lead, and age. Time has been a constant measure in our lives from the dawn of existence. The one detrimental thing about it, however, is that it keeps on moving. Each tick leading forward against our very own choice.

From time immemorial, devices have been invented to measure their continuous motion, from the water clock to the mechanical devices used today. Throughout all of these, we have asked the same question: Is it possible to have control over time?

The answer to that question isn’t as straightforward as you might have anticipated, but there is a light. A group of researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Vienna have discovered a break in Quantum physics that suggests a possible break in controlling the flow of time.

Have scientists uncovered the possibility of a reversible clock

Many of us who are fans of Sci-Fi movies might find this discovery fascinating. But this research team has found a somewhat reversible clock in the quantum realm. Yes, you heard me right, and it is almost similar to how it is explained in Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania or the Terminator franchise. 

While time has a simple and rigid forward flow towards the future, they explain that it is rather flexible and complex in quantum processes. They call their discovery time manipulation at the quantum level, and it is basically a technique that can be used to control time, faster, slower, and even backward, at a nano-level scale, just like this teleportation leap for mankind.

To help put this in perspective, Miguel Navascués of ÖAW explains it as watching a movie in a theatre compared to seeing it at home. We have a place where everyone sees a movie once without any pause, rewind, or fast forward, and our home, where we do otherwise.

Does this mean we can reserve time in Real Time?

Not yet, my fellow time traveler, not yet. Like the remote analogy, scientists have only been able to perform corrections in the quantum flow of time. This reversible clock in the quantum realm works to help rewind the occurrence of errors with quantum data, which is very tiny compared to large biological data like our human body.

How this novel discovery impacts the future of time travel

The team researching this reversible clock phenomenon has only been able to carry out their experiment on a single photon. They observed the photon as it passed through a readily prepared crystal and reverted the nanoparticle to its original state in the observed quantum system.

More specifically, it makes it possible to reverse consequences in applications such as quantum computing, data security, or nano-bio-science. In a world where every atom of decision matters, this discovery is an incredible breakthrough.

And so, while you may yet not be able to travel back in time to correct a mistake, relive a moment, or travel to the nearest future. This reversible clock discovery marks the beginning and a massive leap toward this possibility and many more. According to scientists, it would take another million years to successfully achieve a reversible clock for humans, just like the mysterious snow-like discovery on another planet.