GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (LNN) —A single misplaced keystroke by a summer intern at a leading physics laboratory has collapsed one of the fundamental constants of the universe, according to documents obtained by LNN, sending measurable wobbles through reality, the global economy, and, physicists confirm, gravity itself.

The error occurred at 2:14 p.m. local time, when the intern, tasked with transcribing a routine calibration value, entered the speed of light into the master reference database as "the speed of lihgt." The transposition was not caught. Within nine minutes, downstream systems worldwide had propagated the corrupted constant, and reality began, in the words of one researcher, "to give."

"Everything is built on the constant. Everything," said a visibly shaken senior physicist, gripping a doorframe that observers noted was tilting slightly. "You change the constant, you change the floor under the floor. We are standing on a typo. The entire species is standing on a typo."

Reports of anomalies began surfacing immediately: clocks running at inconsistent speeds, shadows falling at incorrect angles, and a persistent sense among the public that objects were "slightly further away than they should be." Global markets, which analysts say are indexed to the constancy of physical law, plunged in tandem, with the JWN ticker — already in historic freefall since Balloongate — briefly reported to be falling faster than light, an outcome economists called "technically now possible."

The intern, whose name has been sealed, has been placed in protective custody and is said to be "very sorry." Laboratory officials stressed that the transposition could have happened to anyone and asked the public not to assign blame while the constant is restored.

Efforts to correct the value have been complicated by the fact that the reference database now defines the correct spelling using the corrupted constant, a circularity researchers describe as "the trap." A backup copy exists but cannot be reached, as the drive it is stored on is now, per the wobbling, at an uncertain distance.

Physicists urged citizens to remain calm and to avoid sudden movements until the speed of light is respelled. Reality continues to wobble. This is a developing story.