Albert Einstein ‘might have been wrong about the speed of light’

Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity is built on the idea that the speed of light is a constant – and always remains the same.

The speed of light has been used to measure the age of the universe – and to ‘see’ into the moments after the Big Bang.

But what if Einstein was wrong?

A group of researchers believe that the speed of light may not always have been the same – and think they have a way to prove it.

Professor João Magueijo, from Imperial College London first proposed the idea in the Nineties – suggesting that as the universe expanded, light moved faster.

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He now believes that the theory could be proved using observations of cosmic microwave background (the remnants of the Big Bang).

‘The theory, which we first proposed in the late-1990s, has now reached a maturity point – it has produced a testable prediction,’ said Professor Magueijo.

‘If observations in the near future do find this number to be accurate, it could lead to a modification of Einstein’s theory of gravity.

‘The idea that the speed of light could be variable was radical when first proposed, but with a numerical prediction, it becomes something physicists can actually test.

‘If true, it would mean that the laws of nature were not always the same as they are today.’