From: "John Beamish" 

Programming Law Number 1:  variables won't; constants aren't.


On Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:34:27 -0400, Rich Gauszka  wrote:

> The only constant is change? The inconstant constants?
>
> Interesting article at
> http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060711_science_tuesday.html
>
> Recent research has found evidence that the value of certain fundamental
> parameters, such as the speed of light or the invisible glue that holds
> nuclei together, may have been different in the past.
>
> "There is absolutely no reason these constants should be
constant," says
> astronomer Michael Murphy of the University of Cambridge. "These are
> famous
> numbers in physics, but we have no real reason for why they are what they
> are."
>
> The observed differences are small - roughly a few parts in a million -
> but
> the implications are huge: The laws of physics would have to be
> rewritten,
> not to mention we might need to make room for six more spatial dimensions
> than the three that we are used to.
>
>
>
>

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5