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, ...

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 ...

Sound has a speed limit. Under normal circumstances, its waves can travel no faster than about 36 kilometers per second, physicists propose October 9 in Science Advances. Sound zips along at different ...

Crystal growth: variations in some fundamental constants could be revealed by measuring changes in the size of crystalline materials. (Courtesy: iStock/Henvry) Possible variations in some fundamental ...

The validation and application of theories in physics require the measurement of universal values known as fundamental constants. A team of French researchers has just conducted the most accurate ...

Controversy over whether the fundamental constants of nature change with time has reignited. A new study is casting doubt on an earlier claim that a key constant varied as the Universe evolved. The ...

Concerns over variation in one of the fundamental constants of physics have been allayed. A new analysis has found no significant variation in the electron-proton mass ratio, also known as mu, over ...

A spectral analysis of stars at our Galaxy’s center sets the first constraints on how much the fine-structure constant varies in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole. The laws of physics as we ...

What is the meaning of life? Even the best of us couldn't hope to answer that question in a Universe Today article. But there are those who would try to "constrain" it, at least in terms of physics. A ...