Scientists trying to take advantage of the unusual properties of the quantum realm say they have successfully simulated a method of backward time travel that allowed them to change an event after the fact one out of four times. The Cambridge University team is quick to caution that they have not built a time machine, per se, but also note how their process doesn’t violate physics while changing past events after they have happened.
“Imagine that you want to send a gift to someone: you need to send it on day one to make sure it arrives on day three,” explained lead author David Arvidsson-Shukur from the Cambridge Hitachi Laboratory. “However, you only receive that person’s wish list on day two.”
To respect the gift recipient’s timeline, you would need to send it on day one. But, as Arvidsson-Shukur notes, you won’t know what gift to send until later, meaning your gift will either be late or be wrong.
“Now imagine you can change what you send on day one with the information from the wish list received on day two,” he adds. It is exactly this phenomenon that the researchers say can happen in the right scenario.
“Our simulation uses quantum entanglement manipulation to show how you could retroactively change your previous actions to ensure the final outcome is the one you want.”
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