Scientists recently developed a quantum experiment to observe the dynamics of a simulated baby wormhole, but they're a long way off from creating a traversable physical portal.
As reported by The Guardian, a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday documented a recent test that a group of researchers conducted to study the actions and behaviours of a theoretical wormhole that they created in a quantum computer by simulating "two minuscule black holes" and forging a bridge between them.
Through the virtual tunnel, the project team transmitted a message that travelled between the two points, inputting data into one part of the system that then emerged in a different spot. This test allowed researchers to examine the dynamics of the theoretical wormhole to better understand how it works in reality, when gravity is in the mix.
"It looks like a duck, it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck," said physicist and study co-author Joseph Lykken of Fermilab, a leading particle physics and accelerator laboratory in America. "So that's what we can say at this point – that we have something that in terms of the properties we look at, it looks like a wormhole."
Experts outside of the experiment stressed that an actual physical wormhole (a rupture in space and time) hadn't been created but acknowledged that it was a strong starting point for further research. The study authors plan to proceed by making "adult wormholes and toddler wormholes step-by-step" within the confines of a computer.
"There's a difference between something being possible in principle and possible in reality," Lykken allegedly told reporters during a video briefing. "So don't hold your breath about sending your dog through the wormhole. But you have to start somewhere. And I think to me it's just exciting that we're able to get our hands on this at all."
Scientists are constantly making new discoveries that improve people's understanding of important concepts, but some other baffling happenings and outlandish objects remain a mystery.
These astronomical anomalies can include everything from pulsating celestial objects to floating "alien" debris, so you might want to learn more about space before choosing to explore it for yourself.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Cover image credit: inqnet/A. Mueller.