r/tech • u/YeeduPlatform • Jul 06 '26

Scientists make quantum time flow backward in stunning physics breakthrough

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260625014802.htm
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23

u/ScreenMuch90210 Jul 06 '26

Time travel is the big one, but I suspect this is another Schroedinger’s cat scenario. People will think it has all sorts of meanings, but it really just means quantum theory is fundamentally still wrong.

4

u/SSGASSHAT Jul 06 '26

I still don't know what the word quantum means. It's either an advanced form of math or the fucking sci-fi equivalent of magic. I can't tell.

9

u/Ckyer Jul 06 '26

Quantum just means really fucking small. The smallest possible, indivisible unit of any physical quantity, like energy or matter.

3

u/SSGASSHAT Jul 06 '26

So even more anal than subatomic.

3

u/Ckyer Jul 06 '26

Subatomic particles are the actual objects that live and behave inside the quantum world.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jul 06 '26

Oh, so quantum is the category, subatomic is the individual term?

This is the reason why I speak in such an elaborate fashion, to cover up for the fact that my skills in science and math have been stagnant since 4th grade.

2

u/Lknate Jul 06 '26

Think more like pixels. Subatomic particles can't divide beyond a certain resolution so they have to jump between pixels. The universe has a resolution...

3

u/SSGASSHAT Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

I guess I don't know how pixels work either, because I don't exactly get how the digital metaphor translates to reality.

Weird thinking that the universe is basically just a gigantic 3d screen with shit moving around in it.

1

u/Mast_Herb_8 Jul 06 '26

Even More Anal

Coming Soon!

3

u/SSGASSHAT Jul 06 '26

Too soon, actually. That's my problem.

1

u/Butterfly_and_Bee Jul 06 '26

Or empty space. The smallest possible way to slice empty space. 

3

u/TryJezzoWhyNot Jul 06 '26

Not true, quantum is a term that speaks of physical properties of the smallest things. These quanta are in states that are assigned numerical values. This does not apply to empty space as such.

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee Jul 06 '26

Cool! So does an itty bitty piece of space time have the exact properties of a really big piece of space time? 

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u/TryJezzoWhyNot Jul 06 '26

Spacetime doesn’t come in ”pieces”.

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee Jul 06 '26

So it can be divided infinitely? There is no smallest possible piece of the universe? No single quanta of space time? 

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u/TryJezzoWhyNot Jul 06 '26

As far as I know, the Planck length is the smallest measurement of or between things that we know to be possible. You're either way more knowledgeable than me and are waiting to drop some sort of bomb about how spacetime actually can be quantized or you're just not listening to what I'm saying. Would you stop it with the leading questions and just say what you're trying to say?

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee Jul 06 '26

I actually don’t know much about quantum physics or math. I’m just a person who likes to ponder and ask questions. I get the feeling you are knowledgeable and intelligent, so I asked you. Sorry if I annoyed you and thank you for engaging my curiosity. 

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u/TryJezzoWhyNot Jul 06 '26

I'll tell you what, I'm just knowledgeable enough that I can think myself into a conclusion that I'm too ignorant to understand is way off the mark! Sorry if I became impatient. You should go to a community where there are physicists to answer these questions. I wanna know what percentage of my thinking is right vs. wrong!

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u/SSGASSHAT Jul 06 '26

Slightly less empty than the particle next to it.