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PBS Space Time

Why Is 1/137 One of the Greatest Unsolved Problems

Season 8 Episode 28 | 14m 37s

The Fine Structure Constant is one the strangest numbers in all of physics. It’s the job of physicists to worry about numbers, but there’s one number that physicists have stressed about more than any other. That number is 0.00729735256 - approximately 1/137. This is the fine structure constant, and it appears everywhere in our equations of quantum physics, and we’re still trying to figure out why.

Aired: 09/27/22
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The biggest news in cosmology in recent years is that dark energy may be fading away.
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Watch • 17:14
PBS Space Time
Why The Multiverse Could Be Real
Can something that exists be bad science?
Episode: S11 E9 | 17:14
Watch • 18:56
PBS Space Time
Why Is All DNA Right Handed?
It may be that our very DNA inherited its twist from the underlying handedness of reality.
Episode: S11 E8 | 18:56
Watch • 17:21
PBS Space Time
Are The Fundamental Constants Finely Tuned? | The Naturalness Problem
Did God have any choice in creating the world? So asked Albert Einstein
Episode: S11 E7 | 17:21
Watch • 18:19
PBS Space Time
The Crisis In Physics: Are We Missing 17 Layers of Reality?
What if, just before we reach the bottom, we find out that reductionism fails?
Episode: S11 E6 | 18:19
Watch • 19:03
PBS Space Time
Is Our Model of Dark Energy Wrong? | New 4.2σ Results
The biggest news in cosmology in recent years is that dark energy may be fading away.
Episode: S11 E5 | 19:03
Watch • 18:50
PBS Space Time
Is There A Simple Solution To The Fermi Paradox?
Does this also explain why there are no aliens?
Episode: S11 E4 | 18:50
Watch • 16:58
PBS Space Time
Quantum Energy Teleportation is Real!
Quantum energy teleportation may be as close as we get to transporter beams. But how close is that?
Episode: S11 E3 | 16:58
Watch • 14:50
PBS Space Time
Why Didn’t Antimatter Destroy The Universe?
Why is there any matter in the universe? A new antimatter breakthrough at LHC holds clues.
Episode: S11 E2 | 14:50
Watch • 16:30
PBS Space Time
New Evidence: Earth Had Rings (and Might Regain Them)
There’s an extremely good chance that Earth once did have a ring system.
Episode: S11 E1 | 16:30
Watch • 17:23
PBS Space Time
How Astrophysics Can Literally Save the World
How is it possible to tell if a space rock will one day collide with the Earth?
Episode: S10 E37 | 17:23