So what does this all mean? Is a time machine just around the corner?

Sadly, no. Our experiment is fully explained by standard physics.

But it does show that negative dwell time is not an artefact. However paradoxical it may seem, it has a directly measurable effect on the atomic cloud that the photon traverses. And it reminds us that there are still lands to discover on the odyssey that is quantum research.

I was awaiting an explanation... now I'm just left wondering.

[–] Avicenna@programming.dev 34 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

That is how %100 of physics articles with cool names feel like, you usually end up with something like "we measured a slightly different voltage which in this context is a signal for the existence of parallel universes"