Einstein’s Time May be Up by Brian Simpson

Albert Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity are cornerstones of faith in Western physics. Although both theories are admitted to be logically inconsistent with quantum mechanics, physicists cling to them and via string theory are attempting the impossible of reconciling them. So far they have been unsuccessful, which may be an indication that the theories cannot be coherently brought together.

There are two postulates to the theory of relativity, the principle of relativity (that the laws of physics take the same form in all admissible frames of reference), and the postulate that the speed of light is a constant. Much of the criticism of relativity relates to the principle of relativity, but the constant speed of light postulate has also been criticised.

A paper recently published in Physical Review D 94, 101301(R) (2016), a journal you may consider reading for those late sleepless nights, by Niayesh Afshordi and João Magueijoth, “Critical Geometry of a Thermal Big Bang,” gives one cosmological problem.

The cosmos appears to be remarkably uniform, the same over vast distances. Light then needed to have reached these regions for otherwise the most distant regions would be cooler and denser than regions closer to observers. But light travelling at a finite speed would not be able to achieve this. Orthodox cosmologists, brought up on the Einstein faith have advanced the hypothesis of inflation, where there was a massive expansion of the universe in a very brief time interval.
There is no proof that inflation is correct. Afshordi and Magueijoth have proposed instead the simpler hypothesis that the speed of light as infinite in the past, but slowed down over time. Apparently there are experimental tests of both positions, and if they are correct, then they would have dented the special theory of relativity: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/187113/20161127/variable-not-constant-speed-of-light-theory-challenging-einstein-s-physics-can-now-be-tested.htm.

Good for them. This is the age where the dogmas of the past need to fall, as idols come crashing down.