like Marxism , another theory that changed our perception about the world was
Einstein's theory of relativity . It outhrown the newtonian conception of the
world and lead to revolutionary discoveries in the study of the universe . But
was Einstein wrong ?
See the below report .
SYDNEY -- A team of Australian scientists has proposed that the speed of light
may not be a constant, a revolutionary idea that could unseat one of the most
cherished laws of modern physics -- Einstein's theory of relativity.
The team, led by theoretical physicist Paul Davies of Sydney's Macquarie
University, say it is possible that the speed of light has slowed over billions
of years.
If so, physicists will have to rethink many of their basic ideas about the laws
of the universe.
"That means giving up the theory of relativity and E-mc squared and all that
sort of stuff," Davies told Reuters.
"But of course it doesn't mean we just throw the books in the bin, because it's
in the nature of scientific revolution that the old theories become
incorporated in the new ones."
Davies, and astrophysicists Tamara Davis and Charles Lineweaver from the
University of New South Wales published the proposal in the August 8 edition of
scientific journal Nature. (it also appeared in latest "Scientific american "
magazine ).
The suggestion that the speed of light can change is based on data collected by
UNSW astronomer John Webb, who posed a conundrum when he found that light from
a distant quasar, a star-like object, had absorbed the wrong type of photons
from interstellar clouds on its 12 billion year journey to earth.
Davies said fundamentally Webb's observations meant that the structure of atoms
emitting quasar light was slightly but ever so significantly different to the
structure of atoms in humans.
The discrepancy could only be explained if either the electron charge, or the
speed of light, had changed.
"But two of the cherished laws of the universe are the law that electron charge
shall not change and that the speed of light shall not change, so whichever way
you look at it we're in trouble," Davies said.
To establish which of the two constants might not be that constant after all,
Davies' team resorted to the study of black holes, mysterious astronomical
bodies that suck in stars and other galactic features.
They also applied another dogma of physics, the second law of thermodynamics,
which Davies summarizes as "you can't get something for nothing."
After considering that a change in the electron charge over time would violate
the sacrosanct second law of thermodynamics, they concluded that the only
option was to challenge the constancy of the speed of light.
More study of quasar light is needed in order to validate Webb's observations,
and to back up the proposal that light speed may vary, a theory Davies stresses
represents only the first chink in the armor of the theory of relativity.
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