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Health & Science2h 1m ago

Giovanni Barontini created a 'mini-universe' using approximately 24,000 rubidium atoms cooled to billionths of a degree above absolute zero to experimentally define time by changes within a system.

University of Birmingham

Who
Giovanni Barontini, University of Birmingham physicist
What
Giovanni Barontini created a 'mini-universe' using approximately 24,000 rubidium atoms cooled to billionths of a degree above absolute zero to experimentally define time by changes within a system.
When
Fri, 19 Jun 2026 15:02:15 GMT · 2h 1m ago
Where
University of Birmingham ·
Why
The experiment aimed to probe the nature of time and provide controlled experimental evidence that time can be defined by changes within a system rather than an external 'ticking clock'.
The Frontline Impact

How this affects you

This work offers new insight into the nature of time in quantum gravity that could be used to describe dynamics just as effectively as conventional time, potentially aiding in the unification of general relativity and quantum mechanics.

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