New research suggests researchers should start by comparing parameters other than time.

Essential for life: this illustration shows how fundamental constants of nature set the fundamental lower limit for liquid viscosity. (Courtesy: thehackneycollective.com) The values of the fundamental ...

"We are moving from post-diction to prediction," said Raghu Kulkarni. "These papers demonstrate that the confusing constants ...

Detecting or constraining the possible time variations of fundamental physical constants is an important step toward a complete understanding of basic physics and hence the world in which we live. A ...

For nearly half a century, theoretical physicists have made a series of discoveries that certain constants in fundamental physics seem extraordinarily fine-tuned to allow for the emergence of a ...

A crucial number that rules the universe goes big in a strange quantum material. The fine-structure constant is about 10 times its normal value in a type of material called quantum spin ice, ...

A fascinating paper published in Physical Review Letters this week reports that one of the fundamental constants of our universe – the fine-structure constant (α) – may in fact vary depending on where ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about physics, science, academia, and pop culture. One promising avenue for this sort of study is a search for changes in ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Sean Carroll , a theoretical physicist at Caltech, who ...

One of physics’ most fundamental constants just got a little more constant. Physicists have placed the strictest limit yet on how much the fine structure constant — which determines how strongly ...

Detecting or constraining the possible time variations of fundamental physical constants is an important step toward a complete understanding of basic physics and hence the world in which we live. A ...