If you've spent a little time wondering about how the cosmos works (as you should) you have likely stumbled across one of the so-called "constants" of the universe . The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

These are physical quantities which cannot be derived through theory, and must be gained through going out there and measuring them through experiment. Classic examples include the speed of light, Planck's constant, and the fine-structure constant (note; this last one weirds people out the most ).

The conditions of the universe can be described through its “fundamental constants” – fixed quantities in nature, such as the gravitational constant (called G) or the speed of light (called C)," Martin Rees, Emeritus Professor

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