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Originally posted by TinyTimm:
This is not a time to make assumptions about science. As wiser heads than I have noted the known universe is overdue for another revolution in accepted scientific thought.

Every branch of physics is having to deal with divergence between reality and theory.

Jeff
Who suggests you take a cup of dark matter and call me in the morning.

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Quote:

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Originally posted by Zicsoft:
But you have to make assumptions in order to do science -- not to mention science fiction!

FTL is a case in point. Maybe there is a way around this kind of speed limit. But a universe that doesn't consider light to be an absolute benchmark would be very weird.

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Another group of researchers has jumped on what might eventually become an anti-Einstein bandwagon. Last August, scientists looking at how light was absorbed by metallic atoms in gas clouds some 12 billion light-years away found that the so-called fine structure constant may be changing subtly as the universe grows older. The constant, called alpha, explains how electromagnetic forces hold atoms together. The speed of light, another presumed constant, is one element in the alpha formula and so was also called into question.

Now, in a report in today's issue of the journal Nature, an Australian research team reports results of an examination of black holes for further clues. They say other parts of the alpha formula are unlikely to change, and so the speed of light is most probably the varying number, slowing over time. The team, led by physicist Paul Davies, says their argument is "only suggestive." But if true, the implications are wide. Davies even said that traveling beyond the speed of light would not be out of the question.

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