Ever feel like you need more time? That it’s just flying by you?
And, then, do you ever wish you could reverse it?
A study published in Scientific Reports by an international team of researchers has demonstrated that a time-reversal program on a quantum computer is possible.
Researchers have pulled off a mind-boggling experiment using a quantum computer, and boy, does it mess with our understanding of time!
They wanted to see if they could make time reverse itself, just for a split second. You know, like rewinding a video, back in the olden days, but without the popcorn.
And guess what? They did it!
Well, sort of.
So, in the wacky world of quantum mechanics, where things can be particles and waves at the same time (talk about being indecisive!), these clever scientists created a thought experiment.
They imagined a bunch of billiard balls smashing into each other, going all haywire, and then magically rearranging themselves back into order. Like a cosmic cleanup crew, but with balls. READ MORE...
Archaeologists have linked rising and lowering sea levels in the Atlantic Ocean to the ebbs and flows of ancient civilizations in southern Brazil.
The findings, which incorporate several lines of past archaeological evidence, suggest even large, resilient, and cooperative coastal communities can easily go out with the tide.
When analyzing and dating a series of prehistoric shell 'mountains', known as sambaquis in the local language, researchers noticed some significant changes in southwestern Brazil about 2,500 years ago.
At this time, the size and frequency of sambaqui sites suddenly began to decrease, possibly indicating the dissolution of what were, for millennia, dense and stable shellfish-eating populations.
Other research in the area has also identified a rapid reduction in sambaquis around this time, but some researchers think these changes mostly occurred from the rise of ceramics and crops. The use of this new technology meant populations didn't need to rely as much on fish or mollusks, leading to a reduction in shell piles.
However, the new study found the decline of shell middens started before the introduction of pottery. So why, then, were sambaqui practices abandoned?
The answer might have to do with an extreme, retreating tide. By reassessing human and animal remains from Babitonga Bay – home to Brazil's largest concentration of sambaquis – researchers have put forward a new timeline.
According to more than 400 radiocarbon dates, the spread of ceramics in Babitonga probably started around 1,200 years ago. READ MORE...
