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 ...

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

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 ...

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, ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...