You would think something as universal as time would be less susceptible to major changes like revised definitions or refined measurements. But no, that's not how it works.
Awareness without time? A deep look into timelessness in deep meditative states
Dec 2024, phys.org
Some good distinctions on "coherent conceptualization of deep meditative states, focusing in particular on phenomenal temporality during meditation", dubbed the Extended Now Interpretation.
On Duration - According to Extended Now Interpretation, deep meditation occurs over an interval that the person perceives as an extended present, with no awareness of change, succession, temporal order, beginning, or end. Thus, "timelessness" refers to a lack of temporal structure but not a lack of duration.
On Alertness - Since the option of staying alert or not presents itself anew for each passing moment, the meditator is aware of time passing, and thus aware of a period of time, Dr. Frischhut argues. This does not require the meditator to consciously keep track of a succession of moments, as maintaining alertness during meditation may be enough to give them an awareness of duration even without an awareness of succession.
On Memory - Meditators report having no access to memory during deep meditative states, which would present a problem to her argument. She proposes that the experience of being alert at any given moment has a particular phenomenological character that would be different had it not been preceded by an essentially identical experience of alertness - a second knock on a door wouldn't be experienced the same without the first knock. Thus, even without engaging memory, a meditator still experiences duration in the form of instances of momentary alertness that each flows seamlessly from a previous one.
via Akiko Frischhut at Sophia University in Japan: Akiko Frischhut, Awareness without time, The Philosophical Quarterly (2024). DOI: 10.1093/pq/pqae081
Image credit: Atomic clock - JILA Ye Group - 2024
Study claims all observables in nature can be measured with a single constant: The second
Dec 2024, phys.org
The group argues that the number of fundamental constants depends on the type of space-time in which the theories are formulated; and that in a relativistic space-time, this number can be reduced to a single constant, which is used to define the standard of time.Okun stated that three basic units—meter (length), kilogram (mass), and second (time)—were necessary to measure all physical quantities. In other words, he reaffirmed the so-called MKS system (M, for meter; K, for kilogram; S, for second), which was later incorporated into the International System of Units (SI). Veneziano, for his part, argued that in certain contexts two units would suffice: one for time and one for length. Duff was equivocal, stating that the number of constants could vary depending on the theory in question.According to their criteria, the number of fundamental constants is related to the minimum number of independent standards needed to express all physical quantities. To repeat, in Galileo's space-time, all observables can be expressed in terms of units of time and space, which are usually the "second" and the "meter." In relativistic space-time, the unit of time—that is, the "second"—is sufficient to express any observable.And the definition of "second" is currently based on a natural constant: the energy difference between two specific levels of the electronic layer of caesium-133. One second (1s) corresponds to the time of 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the radiation emitted when an electron passes between these two states of caesium-133.
via Institute of Theoretical Physics at São Paulo State University, Institute of Mathematics Statistics and Scientific Computing at the State University of Campinas, São Carlos Institute of Physics at the University of São Paulo: George E. A. Matsas et al, The number of fundamental constants from a spacetime-based perspective, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-71907-0
Scientists observe 'negative time' in quantum experiments
Dec 2024, phys.org
Don't get too excited: The researchers emphasize that these perplexing results highlight a peculiar quirk of quantum mechanics rather than a radical shift in our understanding of time.
via University of Toronto: Daniela Angulo et al, Experimental evidence that a photon can spend a negative amount of time in an atom cloud, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2409.03680 , arxiv.org/abs/2409.03680
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