[thechat] Speed of light may have changed recently
Madhu Menon
webguru at vsnl.net
Sat Jul 3 04:12:51 CDT 2004
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp
<quote>
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 controversial finding is turning up the heat on an already simmering
debate, especially since it is based on re-analysis of old data that has
long been used to argue for exactly the opposite: the constancy of the
speed of light and other constants.
A varying speed of light contradicts Einstein's theory of relativity, and
would undermine much of traditional physics. But some physicists believe it
would elegantly explain puzzling cosmological phenomena such as the nearly
uniform temperature of the universe. It might also support string theories
that predict extra spatial dimensions.
</quote>
Will the physicists on this list please explain the rest of the article in
plain English? My high-school physics is more than a decade old and hence,
rusty. Alan?
Regards,
Madhu
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