The Screwy Universe

Cosmic Variance
By Sean Carroll
May 31, 2006 8:30 PMNov 5, 2019 8:09 AM

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

I've been meaning to post about the claim that experimenters have demonstrated that the proton/electron mass ratio is changing with time. Although it's a fascinating discovery if true, there's something that doesn't quite smell right about it. So I hit on the idea of first posting about the idea of physics claims not "smelling" right more generally. But then I thought that such a post would necessarily involve a careful exposition of one particular example. So it's time for the story of the Screwy Universe. In April 1997, while a postdoc at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara, I received an email from George Field, who had been my Ph.D. advisor. He was suggesting that I take a look at a news article that had appeared on the front page of the New York Times. George is one of my favorite people in the whole world, and I owe whatever success I may have had as a scientist to his insightful guidance in my early career. But okay, I was busy, and didn't immediately look at the article -- lots of crazy stuff appears in the NYT, after all.

0 free articles left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

0 free articlesSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

Stay Curious

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and unlock one more article for free.

 

View our Privacy Policy


Want more?
Keep reading for as low as $1.99!


Log In or Register

Already a subscriber?
Find my Subscription

More From Discover
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2025 LabX Media Group