When it comes to the laws of physics, you could be forgiven for thinking there are rules which apply no matter where you are in time or space. After all, this is what we are taught. But everything you think you know about the universe could be wrong, thanks to a glitch. The laws of physics may be different across the universe, in both space and time. This is according to a theory that has been in testing for over two decades that, if proven correct, could rewrite the laws of physics altogether. There’s a set of numbers known as fundamental constants which play a vital role in physics in determining how particles interact with each other.
Quantum electrodynamics, or QED, describes how the electromagnetic force works on the quantum level. In QED there’s an important number called alpha. It governs how light particles interact with electrically charged particles like electrons, muons and tau. Alpha, which is also called the fine-structure constant, is calculated using the speed of
