New Scientist : Speed of light may have changed recently
The speed of light, one of the most sacrosanct of the universal physical constants, may have been lower as recently as two billion years ago - and not in some far corner of the universe, but right here on Earth.
The threat to the idea of an invariable speed of light comes from measurements of another parameter called the fine structure constant, or alpha, which dictates the strength of the electromagnetic force. The speed of light is inversely proportional to alpha, and though alpha also depends on two other constants (see graphic), many physicists tend to interpret a change in alpha as a change in the speed of light. It is a valid simplification, says Victor Flambaum of the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
Wow...the speed of light s potentially variable. That's like saying the Earth isn't at the center of the universe...err...I mean like saying the world is flat...uhh...Looks like physics and all kinds of theories could change in a manner we weren't ever expecting..fun times
The speed of light, one of the most sacrosanct of the universal physical constants, may have been lower as recently as two billion years ago - and not in some far corner of the universe, but right here on Earth.
The threat to the idea of an invariable speed of light comes from measurements of another parameter called the fine structure constant, or alpha, which dictates the strength of the electromagnetic force. The speed of light is inversely proportional to alpha, and though alpha also depends on two other constants (see graphic), many physicists tend to interpret a change in alpha as a change in the speed of light. It is a valid simplification, says Victor Flambaum of the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
Wow...the speed of light s potentially variable. That's like saying the Earth isn't at the center of the universe...err...I mean like saying the world is flat...uhh...Looks like physics and all kinds of theories could change in a manner we weren't ever expecting..fun times

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