Nobody knows for sure — and that's one of the holes in physics' account of time. Think of that account as a map with holes in it: places where the theories don't add up. The 10 glowing nodes along the top are those holes. Every dot below is someone's attempt to fill one, placed by year and coloured by approach.
Hover a hole to see who has tried to fill it — names appear as you hover. Click anything to read the detail.
Want the raw version — this project's own challenges to the mainstream, your own hypotheses, every label? Switch to ◌ Workbench in the Guide menu (top right).
Colour shows the approach (the "camp"): some add more time or dimensions, some argue time is less fundamental than it looks, some look to the cosmos. Notice where "more time" and "less time" aim at the same hole — two opposite repairs for one crack.
Mainstream Established Contested Ruled out
What working physicists hold, actively debate — or have tested and rejected.
Frontier Speculative
Published proposals, not yet supported by evidence.
Lens Analogy
Stories, history and analogies that help thinking.
Test-bench scores are a first-pass judgement drafted with Claude, an AI — made to be argued with.