It’s important to emphasize: this effect only works in isolated quantum systems. Transferring it to the macroscopic level—for example, to humans—is impossible due to decoherence. But even in the microworld, this changes everything. New-generation quantum clocks based on this principle are accurate to within one second every 30 billion years—longer than the age of the universe.
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The technology is already being used in satellite navigation. New GPS satellites with quantum clocks allow location to be determined with millimeter accuracy—critical for autonomous vehicles and surgical robots. China and the EU have launched a joint project to create a global “quantum time network” by 2028.
However, this breakthrough raises ethical questions. If a quantum event can be “slowed down,” can information be extracted from the future? While scientists insist that information does not violate causality, the very idea is alarming. UNESCO has already begun developing an international code of ethics for research in the field of quantum temporal dynamics.
This discovery is not the end, but the beginning of a new era. It demonstrates that time is not just a background parameter, but an active, controllable substance, like electricity or light. For the first time, humanity is not just measuring time—it is beginning to work with it.
And while we won’t see time machines for centuries to come, the very fact of controlling the flow of time at the quantum level is a step comparable to the discovery of electromagnetism. It won’t change our lives tomorrow, but it will shape the shape of technology in 50 years.
