ITHACA, New York - August 30, 2011 - Whether a research team at the esteemed Cornell University falls into the insane category remains to be seen, but they may be skating along the edge of sanity - and perhaps playing a deadly form of quantum Russian roulette - with the entire universe at stake.
What has created this disconcerting state of affairs?
Certifiably brilliant scientist Mordechay (Moti) Fridman and his tenacious team of "time bandits" have succeeded in punching a hole in the fabric of time by compressing and decompressing it.
The Cornell team constructed what they call a "Time-Lens", which takes advantage of a peculiar duality that exists between the physical properties of space and time. In essence, they have succeeded in punching a hole in the fragile fabric of time through the clever manipulation of diffraction and dispersion via an incredible propagation of light.
"This 'Time-Lens' can, for example, magnify or compress in time," Fridman explained.
Irwin Allen's old Time Tunnel team had nothing on this group.
Incredible electro-optic modulators (EOMs) were employed to manipulate time. One remarkable EOM compresses a light beam passing through it in time; the second EOM decompresses it. The result artificially changes time, creating a hole in reality.
Astrophysicists have theorized for decades that the space-time continuum is an infinite bubble amidst an infinite space of infinite bubbles. Rips, tears or holes in such a bubble may allow other universes to "leak" into our universe, or conversely, permit our universe to spring a leak.
Such breaches in our universe might upset space-time, the nature of reality... even threaten our very existence.
Thankfully, time-lenses and punched holes are currently limited in their ability to affect the underlying nature of space-time. Fridman says the time effect can last only about 110 nanoseconds. The scientist believes that time lenses will not be able to manipulate time more than 120 microseconds.
Yet breakthroughs tend to lead to more breakthroughs and thus greater achievements.
While some see the Time-Lens as a small step towards the ultimate dreams of time travel and invisibility, others think it may lead to an irreparable tear in the fabric of time itself. Such a tear would have no way of mending and could inexorably lead to the horrifying result of time unraveling, like the frayed threads of an old, used up sweater.
Time storms could be precipitated by such holes in the fabric of reality and whole worlds - perhaps whole galaxies - might be swallowed up by whirlpools of non-time, sucking matter and energy into a featureless limbo of non-existence.
Time-Lenses punching holes in time are brand new toys in the quantum physics lab, yet they may also ultimately be the undoing of literally everything we know.
