Cosmic Constants Vary by Location

Space.com reports the constants may be inconstant. It seems that researchers checked out different areas of the universe and found what appear to be variations in the fine-structure constants. Looking from the Keck telescope in Hawaii at the northern sky, the fine-structure constants decreased, while observations of the southern sky from the Very Large Telescope (yes, that's really the name -- kind of like The Ballpark in Arlington) in Chile revealed apparently larger values for the constants.

Flambaum said he was particularly interested in what the result could tell scientists about the origin of life.

"This is a puzzle which has existed for many years," he told SPACE.com. "A minor variation of the fundamental constants forbids life to appear – we just could not exist."

For Flambaum and others, it seemed like too much of a coincidence that the universe's constants – which includes the alpha constant and others like the value of the strength of gravity, or the strength of the strong interaction that binds atomic nuclei together – should be perfect for building stars and planets and life.

"Now we have an explanation," Flambaum said."If fundamental constants vary in space, we just appear in the area of the universe where constants are good for us."

In other regions of the universe where the constants are different, life may be absent, he said.

This apparent variation may not really exist except as an artifact of the methodology, as has turned out to be the case in the past. Nevertheless, it is interesting to think that Earth might be a rather special place in the universe.