Scientists Reveal Time Ran FIVE Times Slower in the Early Universe
Breaking news from the cosmos! Scientists have made a stunning discovery: time in the early universe ticked at just one-fifth the speed it does now. Using quasars—super-bright cosmic lighthouses—as ancient clocks, they’ve unlocked secrets from over 13 billion years ago.
Quasars: The Universe’s New Timekeepers
Astrophysicist Geraint Lewis and his team at the University of Sydney used Einstein’s theory of relativity to predict that space’s expansion slowed time far more than previously thought. Earlier studies tracked supernovas and found time slowed by half. But quasars outshone those findings, revealing a jaw-dropping five-fold slowdown in time a mere billion years after the Big Bang.
Time Dilation Confirmed – And It’s Mind-Blowing
“If you were there back then, time would feel normal,” Lewis explained. “One second would still equal one second. It’s only from our viewpoint that time looks stretched.” To prove this, Lewis and statistician Brendon Brewer pored over data from 190 quasars spanning 20 years. These quasars—powered by supermassive black holes at galaxy centers—flashed in patterns that painstaking analysis decoded like cosmic fireworks.
Einstein Smiles Again as Quasars Confirm His Theory
Using quasars as clocks wasn’t easy. Their flickers didn’t always keep perfect time, causing past doubts about measuring cosmic distances and the universe’s expansion. But thanks to heaps of quasar data and new statistical techniques, Lewis’s team nailed it. This breakthrough not only confirms quasars as reliable cosmic chronometers but also backs Einstein’s relativity—once again a winner in explaining our ever-expanding universe.
This revelation opens thrilling new paths for understanding time’s true nature and the early universe’s wild behaviour. More discoveries are just over the horizon, promising even deeper insights into the mysteries of time, space, and our cosmic origins.
