Back to Show
PBS Space Time
What If The Speed of Light is Not Constant?
Season 9
Episode 19
One of the most fundamental physics facts is that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant for all observers. But can we really be sure? In fact, variable speed of light theories have long been used to try to explain everything from dark energy to gravity itself. Let’s explore how constant this fundamental constant really is.
Support Provided By

12:51
We only recently figured out where cosmic rays are coming from.

13:28
Black hole complementarity may force us to rethink what it means to say that it exists.

20:15
To travel the stars without faster than light travel we’re going to need a generation ship.

16:19
Today we are jumping into a black hole. Again.

15:36
The Moon: humanity’s first destination beyond our atmosphere.

15:07
So how did humans figure out the solar system? Eclipses!

15:02
Is gravity just an emergent effect of entropy?

14:28
Is our 3-D universe is just the inward projection of an infinitely distant boundary?

14:12
What if aliens are deliberately keeping quiet for fear that they might be destroyed?

15:13
So what exactly is an EMP, and how dangerous are they?

14:44
The terrible singularity at the heart of the black hole may be no more.

14:33
We may have solved the mysterious origins of supermassive black holes in our universe.