A year ago they were impossible.
Now the Pentagon wants some.
Time crystals have burst upon the world of physics.
And they offer a unique window to the behaviour of the infintessimally small quantum-scale universe.
Here, the rules of physics change. It’s not the same set of predictable formula’s we’ve figured out up here.
Down there, beneath the scale of the atom, the rules need to be rewritten.
Now time cyrstals - where a web of atoms spin in a perpetual loop - has become the focus of new research by the US military.
It won’t say exactly why.
But we can guess.
From unhackable internet to radar that can tell you all there is to know about any approaching aircraft, the astounding behaviour of the universe’s fundamental building blocks have unimaginable potential.
And the unusual resilience of time crystals could help make these a reality.
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