[NickDMax]

Can Neutrinos Move Faster Than Light?

Neutrinos clocked moving at faster-than-light speed

I know that the popular media loves to jump on a good old, "scientists were wrong!!!" story - but this one is really quite interesting to think about. This of course is not a conclusion just an observation that leaves some deep questions.

[modi123_1]

Quote

CERN says a neutrino beam fired from a particle accelerator near Geneva to a lab 454 miles (730 kilometers) away in Italy traveled 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. Scientists calculated the margin of error at just 10 nanoseconds, making the difference statistically significant.

A large margin of error there... I say these bastard neutrinos are making micro teleporting hops. They max out at the speed of light and start blinking in and out of this universe.

In quick fashion XKCD chimed in:

[BenignDesign]

Bah. Not even a summary in the OP. It's Friday. Clicking the link is too hard.

[NickDMax]

Excellent XKCD!

I would hope that most of us on this site would take the more rational approach of assuming that there is just something missed by the experimenters. This is generally the case in such situations where the very nature of our models get questioned. We already know that the model is at the very least incomplete so discovering something outside of our understanding does not invalidate physics but it does open things up for new discoveries... although the price tag on some of these discoveries can be quite high.

[NickDMax]

Summery - Scientists at the world's largest physics lab said Thursday they have clocked neutrinos traveling faster than light. Something that according to Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity — (E = MC²) — should not happen.

Similar observations were previously made at Fermilab but had too great a margin for error and were assumed anomalous but the new experiment has a much smaller margin for error and the result is too far outside that margin to be ignored.

They are asking other scientist to review and try to replicate the results because they are pretty sure that while they didn't of course make a mistake something must be fishy here OR Enstein's sepcial theory of relativity may not be as stable as we thought.

[modi123_1]

Quote

I would hope that most of us on this site would take the more rational approach of assuming that there is just something missed by the experimenters.

So.. wait. I am not supposed to take off my clothes and run screaming down the halls that not only is the sky falling but so are the basic rules holding together the very fabric of reality? I am not to cover my naked man flesh with symbols and charms with vibrant pigments in hopes to find the loose thread at the seam of reality and guard it with my spear and holy monkey paw from those who wish to dare to dream too big, fly too high, but ultimately their demise will be ours as well as they pluck this key stitch of the cosmos?

Ah. Well then. I need to go wash up.

[Creecher]

That feel when the Einstein's theory was just that, a theory.

[BenignDesign]

So... does this mean that warp speed is possible?

What about ludicrous speed?

This post has been edited by BenignDesign: 23 September 2011 - 09:31 AM

[sithius92]

They've gone plaid!

[WolfCoder]

Creecher, on 23 September 2011 - 10:09 AM, said:

That feel when the Einstein's theory was just that, a theory.

Gravity is "just a theory" and I'm pretty sure you could easily walk to the keyboard you were typing on to write this and didn't have to climb yourself using walls and through the air.

This post has been edited by WolfCoder: 23 September 2011 - 10:21 AM

[dorknexus]

Quote

I know that the popular media loves to jump on a good old, "scientists were wrong!!!" story - but this one is really quite interesting to think about. This of course is not a conclusion just an observation that leaves some deep questions.

Einstein was "wrong" in the same way Newton was "wrong." Except that Newton wasn't really wrong he just wasn't getting the whole picture. Newton thought gravity was this force that reached out and grabbed hold of matter and influenced its actions. Einstein came along and said "actually, gravity is the effect of space-time warping caused by the mass of objects." We didn't have to throw Newton's equations out the window, we still use them to this day actually. Einstein simply added what Newton had missed.

Creecher, on 23 September 2011 - 10:09 AM, said:

That feel when the Einstein's theory was just that, a theory.

You misunderstand the meaning of "theory" in the context of science.

This post has been edited by dorknexus: 23 September 2011 - 11:59 AM

[Whizzy]

modi123_1, on 23 September 2011 - 03:27 PM, said:

and guard it with my spear and holy monkey paw

I knew you had a spear and holy monkey paw.. Where did you steal them from?

BenignDesign, on 23 September 2011 - 04:29 PM, said:

What about ludicrous speed?

Don't you watch Star Trek?? That's Warp 11.

This post has been edited by Whizzy: 23 September 2011 - 12:38 PM

[BenignDesign]

Whizzy, on 23 September 2011 - 03:35 PM, said:

BenignDesign, on 23 September 2011 - 04:29 PM, said:

What about ludicrous speed?

Don't you watch Star Trek?? That's Warp 11.

Don't you watch Spaceballs?

This post has been edited by BenignDesign: 23 September 2011 - 12:59 PM

[farrell2k]

This is fantastic news. I can't wait to see whether it is confirmed or not. If so, the scientific theory of relativity will have to be modified. Very nice.

[Gavisann]

So far, we are on pace to Warp speed (Scotty). All that is left is a devastating world war III and some dude named Zefram Cochrane.

This post has been edited by Gavisann: 23 September 2011 - 05:07 PM