Physicists have confirmed the existence of a new form of atomic nuclei, and the fact that it’s not symmetrical challenges the fundamental theories of physics that explain our Universe. But that's not as bad as it sounds, because the discovery could help scientists solve one of the biggest mysteries in theoretical physics - where is all the dark matter? - and could also explain why travelling backwards in time might actually be impossible. Most nuclei are round or slightly squashed, like a football. But in certain nuclei, protons and neutrons arrange in a more pear-shaped configuration. Only a handful of these distorted nuclei have been seen in experiments. Now, researchers have confirmed that barium-144 is a member of this exclusive club. Moreover, it may be more distorted than theorists expected, a finding that could challenge current nuclear structure models. http://www.sciencealert.com/physici...pe-and-it-could-ruin-our-hopes-of-time-travel http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.112503
I did not know that any knowledgeable person seriously believed in the possibility of time travel other than into the future at different rates for various different scenarios.
How did they make sure that the direction the nucleus was pointing wasn't due to electromagnetic factors?
