Space-Time

Physical systems become inherently more complicated and difficult to produce in a lab as the number of dimensions they exist in increases—even more so in quantum systems. While discrete time crystals (DTCs) had been previously demonstrated in one dimension, two-dimensional DTCs were known to exist only theoretically. But now, a new study, published in Nature Communications, has demonstrated the existence of a DTC in a two-dimensional system using a 144-qubit quantum processor.

Using a superconducting quantum computer, physicists created a large and complex version of an odd quantum material that has a repeating structure in time

A viral TikTok video features a man claiming to have time travelled to the mythical country of Torenza, describing utopian scenes. It sparked debates on parallel dimensions and time travel, but fact-checks link it to an urban legend

A TikTok creator claims to show New York City in 1956, baffling viewers online.

A team of researchers led by the University of Warwick has developed the first unified framework for detecting "spacetime fluctuations"—tiny, random distortions in the fabric of spacetime that appear in many attempts to unite quantum physics and gravity.

Quantum mechanics is rich with paradoxes and contradictions. It describes a microscopic world in which particles exist in a superposition of states—being in multiple places and configurations all at once, defined mathematically by what physicists call a "wavefunction." But this runs counter to our everyday experience of objects that are either here or there, never both at the same time.

Wormholes are often imagined as tunnels through space or time—shortcuts across the universe. But this image rests on a misunderstanding of work by physicists Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen.

Controversial broadcaster alleges extraordinary conspiracy tied to late Turning Point USA founder's private messages and unexplained surveillance theories.

Candace Owens claims Charlie Kirk was a 'time traveller' monitored by secret agents, immediately losing public trust she gained over conspiracy theories behind his death.

Candace Owens alleges on her podcast that Charlie Kirk was a secret time traveller monitored by shadowy 'Matrix agents', revealing a web of conspiracy.

Multiple TikTok accounts claiming to be time travellers are going viral for eerie videos of empty cities and dark future predictions.

Viral TikTok videos claim to show Earth in 2055 with empty cities and mass disappearance, but experts say the clips are staged fiction with no evidence online.

The CHIEF1900 is currently the world's most powerful centrifuge that was commissioned by China in December 2025.

Viral TikToker claiming to be trapped in 2055 divides the internet with empty Paris footage and PlayStation 7, sparking fierce debate over AI-generated videos versus elaborate hoax.

Astronomers have directly observed a spinning black hole twisting spacetime, confirming a century-old prediction of Einstein's theory of relativity.

Author(s): Kun Zhou, Jian-Wen Xu, Qi-Ping Su, Yu Zhang, Xiang-Min Yu, Zhuang Ma, Han-Yu Zhang, Hong-Yi Shi, Wen Zheng, Shuyi Pan, Yihao Kang, Zhiguo Huang, Chui-Ping Yang, Shao-Xiong Li, and Yang YuA qutrit-based realization of a discrete-time quantum walk overcomes the scalability challenge and demonstrates the generation of topological edge states. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 250601] Published Fri Dec 19, 2025

Astronomers have detected spacetime itself being dragged and twisted by a spinning black hole for the first time. The discovery, seen during a star’s violent destruction, confirms a prediction made over 100 years ago and reveals new clues about how black holes spin and launch jets.

Physicists used liquid crystals to build a near-perpetual clock-like system, demonstrating a 'time crystal' phase where components move continuously without external power.

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Andrej Karpathy received early access to Google’s newest AI model on November 17, one day before its public

The nature of time has plagued thinkers for as long as we've tried to understand the world we live in. Intuitively, we know what time is, but try to explain it, and we end up tying our minds in knots.

Experiments show that a time crystal based on magnons can interact with mechanical waves without being destroyed.

For obvious reasons, we do not know what the inside of a black hole looks like. But thanks to theoretical physics, we can ask what the inside should look like if Einstein's theory of gravity and the rules of quantum mechanics are both true. A new study published in the journal Physical Review Letters has done exactly this by concentrating on two black holes that are deeply entangled (linked together by quantum rules).

A mathematical model suggests that when a pair of black holes gets quantum entangled, this can give rise to a lumpy space-time tunnel between them

Spacetime isn’t something that exists; it’s a model for describing how events happen. Treating events as objects creates philosophical confusion and fuels misconceptions, such as time-travel paradoxes. Recognizing that events merely occur within an existing world brings clarity to physics and philosophy alike.

Is 3I/ATLAS 'alien tech'? Harvard's Avi Loeb details 8 anomalies, including a Jupiter trajectory that 'defies spacetime,' as the object faces its 'acid test' at perihelion.

Researchers have harnessed nonlocal artificial materials to create optical systems that emulate parallel spaces, wormholes, and multiple realities. A single material acts as two distinct optical media or devices simultaneously, allowing light to experience different properties based on entry boundaries. Demonstrations include invisible optical tunnels and coexisting optical devices, opening new avenues for compact, multifunctional optical devices by introducing nonlocality as a new degree of freedom for light manipulation.

A glittering hunk of crystal gets its iridescence from a highly regular atomic structure. Frank Wilczek, the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics, proposed quantum systems––like groups of particles––could construct themselves in the same way, but in time instead of space. He dubbed such systems time crystals, defining them by their lowest possible energy state, which perpetually repeats movements without external energy input. Time crystals were experimentally proved to exist in 2016.

A time crystal, a long-life quantum system approaching perpetual motion, has been hooked up to its environment for the first time, unlocking an intriguing way to increase quantum computational and sensing power.

Scientists at TU Wien have uncovered that quantum correlations can stabilize time crystals—structures that oscillate in time without an external driver. Contrary to previous assumptions, quantum fluctuations enhance rather than hinder their formation. Using a laser-trapped lattice, the team demonstrated self-organizing rhythmic behavior arising purely from particle interactions. The finding could revolutionize quantum technology design.

Gravitational waves are energy-carrying waves produced by the acceleration or disturbance of massive objects. These waves, which were first directly observed in 2015, are known to be produced during various cosmological phenomena, including mergers between two black holes that orbit each other (i.e., binary black holes).

A new study reveals that spontaneous emission, a key phenomenon in the interaction between light and atoms, manifests in a new form within a photonic time crystal. This research, led by a KAIST team, not only overturns existing theory but further predicts a novel phenomenon: spontaneous emission excitation. The findings are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Whether space-time exists should be neither controversial nor even conceptually challenging, given the definitions of "space-time," "events" and "instants." The idea that space-time exists is no more viable than the outdated belief that the celestial sphere exists: both are observer-centered models that are powerful and convenient for describing the world, but neither represents reality itself.

Author(s): Jagang Park, Kyungmin Lee, Ruo-Yang Zhang, Hee-Chul Park, Jung-Wan Ryu, Gil Young Cho, Min Yeul Lee, Zhaoqing Zhang, Namkyoo Park, Wonju Jeon, Jonghwa Shin, C. T. Chan, and Bumki MinA material whose dielectric properties vary in time could produce exotic light-emission phenomena in a nearby atom, theorists predict. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 133801] Published Mon Sep 22, 2025

Author(s): Mário G. SilveirinhaA material whose dielectric properties vary in time could produce exotic light-emission phenomena in a nearby atom, theorists predict. [Physics 18, 161] Published Mon Sep 22, 2025

Nature has many rhythms: the seasons result from Earth's movement around the sun, the ticking of a pendulum clock results from the oscillation of its pendulum. These phenomena can be understood with very simple equations. However, regular rhythms can also arise in a completely different way—by themselves, without an external clock, through the complex interaction of many particles. Instead of uniform disorder, a fixed rhythm emerges—this is referred to as a "time crystal."

Time crystals, a state of matter once thought physically impossible, could soon be on a banknote

Sept. 13, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

The visible patterns produced by the time crystals could be used for data storage and anti-counterfeiting designs.

Physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder have created the first time crystal that humans can actually see, using liquid crystals that swirl into never-ending patterns when illuminated by light. This breakthrough builds on Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek’s 2012 theory of time crystals—structures that move forever in repeating cycles, like a perpetual motion machine or looping GIF. Under the microscope, these crystals form colorful, striped patterns that dance endlessly, opening possibilities for everything from anti-counterfeiting features in money to futuristic methods of storing digital information.

Imagine a clock that doesn't have electricity, but its hands and gears spin on their own for all eternity. In a new study, physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder have used liquid crystals, the same materials that are in your phone display, to create such a clock—or, at least, as close as humans can get to that idea. The team's advancement is a new example of a "time crystal." That's the name for a curious phase of matter in which the pieces, such as atoms or other particles, exist in constant motion.

Seeking endorsements for her new book, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein finds herself staring at fundamental questions of space, time – and grammar

Author(s): Siddharth Boyeneni, Jiaxi Wu, and Elias R. MostGravitational field equations describing binary black holes can be recast in a form resembling coupled Maxwell’s equations for electrodynamics. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 101401] Published Tue Sep 02, 2025

Researchers have developed a blueprint for weaving hopfions—complex, knot-like light structures—into repeating spacetime crystals. By exploiting two-color beams, they can generate ordered chains and lattices with tunable topology, potentially revolutionizing data storage, communications, and photonic processing.

Few ideas in modern science have reshaped our understanding of reality more profoundly than space-time—the interwoven fabric of space and time at the heart of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

For just over two years, a scalar magnetometer developed by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the Space Research Institute (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has been on its way to Jupiter as part of ESA's JUICE mission to discover liquid water beneath the surface of its icy moons.

What would a wormhole really look like? It's unlikely that wormholes truly exist, but here's what they would look like if they did.

What would a wormhole really look like? It's unlikely that wormholes truly exist, but here's what they would look like if they did.

What is space-time? Depending on how fast you're moving or how close you are do Earth's gravity can change the way time feels.

A new study suggests that recalling the context in which a memory was made can help to restore the memory after it has started to erode.

Author(s): Jacob P. Covey, Igor Pikovski, and Johannes BorregaardA new proposal shows how distributed entanglement between neutral-atom quantum processors can enable measurements of quantum dynamics at length scales where the curvature of spacetime is relevant. [PRX Quantum 6, 030310] Published Mon Jul 21, 2025

Author(s): Djordje MinicA proposed experiment could shed light on the unknown interplay of quantum theory and general relativity. [Physics 18, 135] Published Mon Jul 21, 2025

Quantum networking is being rapidly developed world-wide. It is a key quantum technology that will enable a global quantum internet: the ability to deploy secure communication at scale, and to connect quantum computers globally. The race to realize this vision is in full swing, both on Earth and in space.

Using gravitational microlensing, scientists have discovered a rare, large planet at the edge of the Milky Way. The planet is only the third to be found on the outskirts of our galaxy's dense central bulge.

There are new hints that the fabric of space-time may be made of "memory cells" that record the whole history of the universe. If true, it could explain the nature of dark matter and much more

In Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time, a young woman must help a naval commander snatched from death in 1847 adapt to the 21st century. Time travel thriller meets romance in this excellent novel

By using light to emulate the structure of space-time, researchers can better understand black holes – and the exotic objects that mimic them

New mathematical work provides a way to identify when information has been changed by manipulating space-time – and it may form a foundation for future space-time computers

In a new Physical Review Letters study, researchers have successfully followed a gravitational wave's complete journey from the infinite past to the infinite future as it encounters a black hole.

The Ministry of Time author Kaliane Bradley on how she made time travel work in her bestselling novel, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club

In this short extract from Kaliane Bradley's sci-fi novel, her protagonist makes a startling discovery about the nature of time

Author(s): Alina Sabyr, J. Colin Hill, and Zoltán HaimanThe thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect captures extremely rich, non-Gaussian cosmological information beyond the power spectrum. Using higher-order statistics such as Minkowski functionals, peaks, minima, and moments, future CMB experiments like Simons Observatory and CMB-S4 can significantly tighten existing constraints and may also reveal hidden signals from undetected halos even in realistic noisy conditions. [Phys. Rev. D 111, 103536] Published Wed May 28, 2025

Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists will need to go to the ends of space and time to find a fix. The post Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill first appeared on Quanta Magazine

The speed of light is the fastest anything can travel. What happens to a photon from a galaxy 25 million light years away on its journey toward Earth?

Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) second year Ph.D. scholarship student Sebenele (Sebe) Thwala, working with supervisors Dr. Chris Stevens and Prof Jörg Frauendiener, has been modeling how gravitational waves interact across the universe from the distant past to the far future.

Time crystals represent a new phase of matter proposed by Frank Wilczek, the Nobel laureate of Physics in 2004; they can break original time-translation symmetry and create new time oscillations spontaneously.

Author(s): Alexander-Georg Penner, Harald Schmid, Leonid I. Glazman, and Felix von OppenThe authors show here that the temporal spin correlations in a Floquet time crystal are asymptotically related to the statistics of eigenvalue repulsion of the defining Floquet operator. The eigenvalue statistics are found to be log-normal, which implies that apart from initial transients, the boundary spin correlations can be described analytically and are characterized by two parameters only. The relation between spectral statistics and temporal spin correlations opens new perspectives on time crystals. [Phys. Rev. B 111, 184308] Published Thu May 08, 2025

Author(s): Joshua Feinberg, David E. Fernandes, Boris Shapiro, and Mário G. SilveirinhaPhotonic time-crystals when extended to plasmonic media can support collective resonance of longitudinal plasmons that can significantly enhance parametric gain. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 183801] Published Tue May 06, 2025

Physicists are trying to ditch the concept of space-time – the supposed fabric of physical reality. Quantum columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan explains why

Has your dinner time conversations been dragging a bit of late? Feel like raising its knowledge level to a bit higher than the usual synopsis of the most recent reality TV show? Then take the challenge presented by Sean Carroll in his book "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe – Space, Time and Motion". Using this, your conversation might soon be sparkling with grand thoughts about modern physics, time travel, going faster than light and the curvature of the universe.

By breaking a decades-old paradigm and rethinking the role that the dimension of time plays in physics, researchers from the University of Rostock and the University of Birmingham have discovered novel flashes of light that come from and go into nothingness—like magic at first glance but with deep mathematical roots that protect against all kinds of outside perturbations. Their findings have now been published in the journal Nature Photonics.

The Earth's magnetic field quietly supports life on the planet and now, for the first time, its invisible powers have been used to create new nanoparticles and materials.

Nature is the foremost international weekly scientific journal in the world and is the flagship journal for Nature Portfolio. It publishes the finest peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology on the basis of its originality, importance, interdisciplinary interest, timeliness, accessibility, elegance and surprising conclusions. Nature publishes landmark papers, award winning news, leading comment and expert opinion on important, topical scientific news and events that enable readers to share the latest discoveries in science and evolve the discussion amongst the global scientific community.

Nature is the foremost international weekly scientific journal in the world and is the flagship journal for Nature Portfolio. It publishes the finest peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology on the basis of its originality, importance, interdisciplinary interest, timeliness, accessibility, elegance and surprising conclusions. Nature publishes landmark papers, award winning news, leading comment and expert opinion on important, topical scientific news and events that enable readers to share the latest discoveries in science and evolve the discussion amongst the global scientific community.

Physicists at TU Dortmund University have periodically driven a time crystal and discovered a remarkable variety of nonlinear dynamic phenomena, ranging from perfect synchronization to chaotic behavior within a single semiconductor structure. The team has now published its latest findings in the journal Nature Communications.

Author(s): Victor Pacheco-Peña, Mathias Fink, and Nader EnghetaHere, the authors propose photonic time interfaces (rapid modulations of the permittivity of the medium where the wave travels) to induce/create spatial interfaces, that is, space-time interfaces. They explore perpendicular, parallel, and oblique spatial interfaces created in time. In so doing, they show how such space-time metamaterials can be seen as the generalization of Snell’s law in four dimensions ( x , y , z , t ). Applications such as temporal chirp, lensing, and routing are then proposed as examples. [Phys. Rev. B 111, L100306] Published Mon Mar 31, 2025

In an attempt to speed up quantum measurements, a new Physical Review Letters study proposes a space-time trade-off scheme that could be highly beneficial for quantum computing applications.

The latest time crystal innovation may expand the known boundaries of quantum mechanics.

ESA's Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. This cutting-edge European experiment will test fundamental physics from the outside of ESA's Columbus module on the International Space Station, measuring time from orbit with unprecedented precision.

In the search for solutions to diseases like cancer, scientists are pursuing a new frontier in biology—the spatial and temporal places where our cells live.

Author(s): R. Hurtado-Gutiérrez, C. Pérez-Espigares, and P. I. HurtadoTime crystals are being investigated both in classical and quantum settings. This work advances this area by demonstrating how to engineer and control custom continuous time crystals in driven diffusive fluids. This enables one to build different time crystals on demand, characterized by an arbitrary number of rotating condensates. The authors’ findings leverage an external packing field coupled to density fluctuations, showcasing the versatility and potential of the approach. #AdvancingField #TimelyTopic [Phys. Rev. E 111, 034119] Published Mon Mar 17, 2025

Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonTime crystals realized in the so-called quasiperiodic regime hold promise for future applications in quantum computing and sensing. [Physics 18, s28] Published Wed Mar 12, 2025

In his new novel Dissolution, Nicholas Binge plays with time travel and memory to craft a thriller reminiscent of Memento and Inception. It is well-deserving of its upcoming big screen treatment, says Emily H. Wilson

Author(s): Christopher Corlett, Ieva Čepaitė, Andrew J. Daley, Cica Gustiani, Gerard Pelegrí, Jonathan D. Pritchard, Noah Linden, and Paul SkrzypczykA new scheme can speed up quantum measurement in different physical platforms through a space-time trade-off — using additional ancillary qubits in place of longer measurement time. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 080801] Published Thu Feb 27, 2025

Physicists hope that understanding the churning region near singularities might help them reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics. The post New Maps of the Bizarre, Chaotic Space-Time Inside Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Photonics researchers from Tampere University, Finland, and Kastler-Brossel Laboratory, France, have demonstrated how self-imaging of light, a phenomenon known for nearly two centuries, can be applied to cylindrical systems, facilitating unprecedented control of light's structure with great potential for advanced optical communication systems. In addition, a new type of space-time duality was explored for powerful analogies bridging different fields of optics.

Author(s): Sander M. Vermeulen, Torrey Cullen, Daniel Grass, Ian A. O. MacMillan, Alexander J. Ramirez, Jeffrey Wack, Boris Korzh, Vincent S. H. Lee, Kathryn M. Zurek, Chris Stoughton, and Lee McCullerPredictions of theories that combine quantum mechanics with gravity could be observed using highly sensitive photon detection in a tabletop experiment. [Phys. Rev. X 15, 011034] Published Fri Feb 14, 2025

Here are just some of the best and strongest cards you can get for your battle decks from the Space-Time Smackdown Dialga and Palkia set in Pokémon TCG Pocket.

Collapsed dead stars, known as neutron stars, are a trillion times denser than lead, and their surface features are largely unknown. Nuclear theorists have explored mountain building mechanisms active on the moons and planets in our solar system. Some of these mechanisms suggest that neutron stars are likely to have mountains.

The grandfather paradox is just one of the thorny logical problems that arise with the concept of time travel. But one physicist says he has resolved them.