The laws of physics may differ throughout the universe

[needimprovement]

Although it is commonly accepted that physical laws and values of fundamental constants are the same throughout our universe, a recent finding, in which the fine-structure constant alpha has been found to vary by a small amount (1 part in 100,000) going from one end of the universe to another, i.e. surprisingly the variation seems to be unidirectional. Here's the web link to the news article on this:

 

http://www.gizmag.com/laws-of-physics-may-vary-throughout-the-universe/16329/

 

Comments? (I'd wonder myself about some sort of systematic experimental error, but the article doesn't give details about the experiment.)

[swansont]

It's suspect for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that only one group has found the results — nobody else can replicate it. What's needed is a different group, using a different method, giving the same results.

 

Here's a good critique

http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2010/09/_httpksjtrackermitedu20100907e.php

[needimprovement]

It's suspect for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that only one group has found the results — nobody else can replicate it. What's needed is a different group, using a different method, giving the same results.

 

Here's a good critique

http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2010/09/_httpksjtrackermitedu20100907e.php

Thanks for the reference. Here is another link:

 

http://www.economist.com/node/16941123

 

If this is true, it means that physicists don't know as much about the universe as they thought they did (and even the things they think they know may not be correct) - hence guys like Hawking should not presume to "prove" statements such as "God is not needed for Creation of the multiverse/universe". The only thing a real scientist can say is that he knows that he doesn't know everything.

[Sisyphus]

Thanks for the reference. Here is another link:

 

http://www.economist.com/node/16941123

 

If this is true, it means that physicists don't know as much about the universe as they thought they did (and even the things they think they know may not be correct) - hence guys like Hawking should not presume to "prove" statements such as "God is not needed for Creation of the multiverse/universe". The only thing a real scientist can say is that he knows that he doesn't know everything.

 

Yes, science is a continually self-correcting process, which is one of the reasons it is the best tool we have for understanding the world. I don't know what non-constant laws of physics has to do with that more than any other new discovery, or what either has to do with Stephen Hawking.

 

But back on topic: if this were true, couldn't it resolve the alleged problem of cosmological "fine-tuning?"

[Mr Skeptic]

It is possible that some of our constants change, eg they might be dependent of other constants. For example g, the acceleration at earth's surface, changes depending on where on earth you are, how high you are, and is constantly increasing due to the mass of earth slightly increasing as it absorbs asteroids. We don't consider g a fundamental constant, of course, but some of the constants could depend on something else and science could handle that just fine, if that were the case.