A whiff of heresy is in the air. There are very few beliefs in science that have the force of doctrine, but among them is the conviction that the speed of light is fixed. It forms the rock upon which Einstein built one of the 20th century's most enduring monuments, the General Theory of Relativity. But in science nothing is sacred, and several leading theoretical physicists are now toying with the delicious notion that the …showed first 75 words of 1297 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1297 total…til galaxies form island universes, cut off from the main. At some point this process can suddenly turn energy into matter. In other words, it sets the scene for a fresh Big Bang, or a series of bangs, which will start the whole process again. If so, the Universe keeps rising like a phoenix from the wreckage of the one before - not a one-off, but a continuous process with no beginning and no end.