Strange quantum experiment shows “negative time” is more than an illusion
sciencedaily.com | 08/04/2026Photons traveling through a cloud of atoms can emerge so early that they appear to have spent a negative amount of time inside.
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Our experiment used photons – quantum particles of light – and the against-the-odds journey they must undertake to pass straight through a cloud of rubidium atoms.
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Based on the average time when the photon enters the cloud, one can calculate the expected average time it would arrive at the far side of the cloud, assuming it travels at the speed of light (as photons usually do).
What one finds is that the photon actually arrives far earlier than that. In fact, it arrives so early it appears to have spent a negative amount of time inside the cloud – to exit, on average, before it enters.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
I’ve been spending to much “negative time” in my house lately. Time to go out and find a good deal on a bone-in ribeye with low interest financing. My grill outside is already heated up to 123 degrees just sitting in the sun. It’s like a pre-heated oven.
So you’re telling me that all those photon torpedoes that the Enterprise is going to be firing are really traveling back in time, headed for us? I hope they get baby Hitler before they get me, but just in case, I ain’t wearing a red shirt any time soon.
Just some racist photons moving to the suburbs before those kind of photons ruin the neighborhood.
Arriving early? Maybe they didn’t hit the usual traffic.