Ronald Stephens

Quantum physics took the mysteries of time to a whole other level. Is time continuous or discrete? Is there a minimum size of time duration, a sort of quantum of time? Is time fundamental or is it an emergent phenomenon, or is it an illusion? Many scientists now think that time is not fundamental but that it emerges out of nothingness. Of course, nothingness itself is being redefined. Completely empty space is now thought to be a quantum foam, with virtual particles popping into and out of existence randomly and continuously. When these virtual particles happen to interact with each…

Precise time keeping is of the utmost importance in science and technology and has been since the beginning of recorded time. Yet no one really knows what time is. If you look up the word “time” in a good dictionary you will see one of the longest entries, with dozens of definitions. St. Augustine, in 400 AD, said “What, then, is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain to him who asks, I know not.” Time is what a clock measures. The first clocks were natural phenomena, like the sun rising and setting and…