Laws of Physics Vary Throughout the Universe

A team of astrophysicists based in Australia and England has uncovered evidence that the laws of physics are different in different parts of the universe.

The team -- from the University of New South Wales, Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Cambridge -- has submitted a report of the discovery for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters. A preliminary version of the paper is currently under peer review.

The report describes how one of the supposed fundamental constants of Nature appears not to be constant after all. Instead, this 'magic number' known as the fine-structure constant -- 'alpha' for short -- appears to vary throughout the universe.

"After measuring alpha in around 300 distant galaxies, a consistency emerged: this magic number, which tells us the strength of electromagnetism, is not the same everywhere as it is here on Earth, and seems to vary continuously along a preferred axis through the universe," Professor John Webb from the University of New South Wales said.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100909004112.htm

Interesting....

Sonofabitch. That so isn't fair to us poor, dumb humans trying to figure out how this universe works.

Of course, it could just be that they've missed  a source of error somewhere and it's throwing their results all over the place. They're just some poor, dumb humans, after all.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

*gasp*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

I hope my mind isn't going to be pregnant.  Because it just got fucked. 

If the study is true, it would be a gain for M-Theory.  And I don't think anybody without a PhD in theoretical physics understands that...

not surprising. nothing is ever the same.

- It's one paper
- That hasn't been peer reviewed
- And this claim has been made several times before to no result

I'm sure this is serious research, but for something this big it needs A LOT of checking before you can even consider it. As in high school science classes, this could easily be systematic or random errors from instrument faults. It's not like we can travel to those galaxies and check.

So, Khuutra, calm down. If it's still true in 3 months then by all means freak out. It also means I'm in a job because I'm going to start a Physics degree soon (at Cambridge; maybe I'll meet those researchers) with the intention of going into research. New stuff we can't explain well is exciting.

earthshattering discoveries indeed happen everyday - mind blown

i mean one would assume that the laws of physics would be universal, there's a conflict in my brain now >_<

All the 'laws' mean is that if we do an experiment today, and come back tomorrow and do it again, the results will be exactly the same.

If you think about it, there's no reason that has to be true. It's just that up until now (potentially) we've assumed that it is.

This is why we MUST find extra terrestrial life

We MUST steal their technology and become the dominant species in the Galaxy