Variations in fine-structure constant suggest laws of physics not the same everywhere

Variations in fine-structure constant suggest laws of physics not the same everywhere: By measuring the quasar spectra, the researchers could gather data on the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by quasars at high redshifts, corresponding to a time about 10 billion years ago. During the time the light traveled through space to reach the telescopes, some of it was absorbed at specific wavelengths by very old gas clouds that today can reveal the chemical composition of the clouds...

The cloud compositions could help the scientists determine the fine-structure constant in those areas of the universe at that time, since alpha is a measure of the strength of the electromagnetic force between electrically charged particles...

By combining the data from the two telescopes that look in opposite directions, the researchers found that, 10 billion years ago, alpha seems to have been larger by about one part in 100,000 in the southern direction and smaller by one part in 100,000 in the northern direction...

The results also violate the Einstein Equivalence Principle, and suggest that the universe may be much larger than currently thought - or even infinite in size.