Week In Science

The article 'Astronomers Gain Clues About Fundamental Physics' describes a project aimed at gathering data from the vast expanses of the universe in order to determine the behavior of some very small parts of the universe (atoms and molecules). This behavior is described by some well known physics theories containing what are known as mathematical constants. The goal is determining if nature's laws have changed over vast eons of time.

Are fundamental physics constants really constant or do their values change with time? The site of the testing is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico. Results could impact theoretical models.

As stated in the article: "The astronomers were looking for changes in two quantities: the ratio of the masses of the electron and the proton, and a number physicists call the fine structure constant, a combination of the electron charge, the speed of light and the Planck constant." The fundamental constants, once thought invarient, may indeed change with time. Other tests have indicated the possibility of change but the issue is unsettled.

Astronomers in Socorro, New Mexico are studying data related to radio emissions of hydroxyl groups in a distant galaxy. Results could confirm one of the conflicting cosmological models pertaining to constants.

While the measurements themselves may reflect dispassionate attempts to gather correct data, the range of cosmological constants as well as Big Bang models, have inspired debates due to their teleological and theological implications. Astronomer George F. Smoot, whose evidence about the origins of the universe led to his receiving the Nobel Prize in physics, incurred mockery for his remark: “It really is like finding the driving mechanism for the universe, and isn’t that what God is?”

Some allow their prejudices to evoke foolish reactions to outstanding scientists.