What if time is not as set in stone it seems? Imagine that time could move forward or backward due to quantum-level processes rather than in a single direction. According to a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers at the University of Surrey have uncovered the intriguing discovery that some quantum systems have the potential to produce competing arrows of time.

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The arrow of time—the notion that time moves irrevocably from the past to the future—has baffled scholars for ages. The fundamental principles of physics do not favor one path over another, even though this appears to be evident in the reality humans experience. The equations are the same whether time goes forward or backward.