Robin Hood Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Law-breaking particle at CERN exceeds the speed of light By Alexandra Petri CERN, where the offender was launched. (FABRICE COFFRINI - AFP/GETTY IMAGES) Stop the presses! Hold the phones! If you don’t have a phone or a press, find a hipster who does! The speed of light is broken! CERN has just measured subatomic particles traveling at faster than the speed of light ! Or, in non-English: CERN (that’s the European Organization for Nuclear Research to you, American) has just measured a neutrino (that’s a subatomic particle to you, uh, Multicellular Organism) that traveled from Geneva, Switzerland, to a destination in Italy and managed to exceed the speed of light by 60 nanoseconds — with a margin of error of only 10 nanoseconds. “Something exceeds the speed limit in Italy, and somehow this is news?” If true, this is huge. The idea that the speed of light is a constant, never to be exceeded, has been fixed since the time of Albert Einstein. It’s one of those operating assumptions that underlie our every action, like “single men with cats are bad marriage material” or “if TV critics praise a show for being fresh, funny and insightful, it will fail.” If this isn’t true, nothing is true. All the rules on which I’ve based my existence — “Christmas calories don’t count,” “the Orioles will lose,” “if you like a product or service, inevitably they will change it, start charging you more, or George Lucas will add new scenes and special features.” Up is up, down is down, right is whatever position Ron Paul currently occupies, and the speed of light cannot be broken. This is so huge that the Europeans are asking us to check it. They haven’t done that since the rise of the Third Reich. If we can verify it, then it’s the only real news today. It will force us to rethink all our scientific assumptions. The speed of light was supposed to be an absolute limit, like the age of consent, not a guideline, like the drinking age. Rick Perry was right. Science is wrong. “The Big Bang Theory” will have to go off the air in shame. But on the bright side, now maybe we can visit Tatooine after all! We just discovered it. At the rate we’re going this week, “Star Wars” will turn out to be a documentary. Still, if true, this is huge. It undermines everything we’ve thought since 1905. We’ll have to rethink all our other assumptions. Maybe we don’t need coffee to survive. Maybe shark attacks aren’t more relevant to our lives than car crashes. Maybe we should trust Greeks bearing gifts. I’ve had so many of my assumptions unsettled that I have this intense urge to become a Scientologist. It’s too much. Next time we see a particle do that, somebody ought to pull it over. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/law-breaking-particle-at-cern-exceeds-the-speed-of-light/2011/09/22/gIQAOIzKoK_blog.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 I think the results should be reproduced first before we start writing sensationalist headlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashmetoo Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 how soon can we have a warp 1 drive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war485 Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 If it's reproducible, then I'll get just as excited as you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clever Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 I think I read a quote that said if you travel faster than the speed of light you will get to where you're going before you ever leave. Wrap your heads around that. I really hope this is true and discredits everything we thought we knew about physics, the universe, and reality in general--especially the big bang.. I hate the thought that everything there ever was and ever will be was once in an infinitely small point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imawannabe Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 I hate the thought that everything there ever was and ever will be was once in an infinitely small point. Why? claustrophobic? On a side note, I hope this isn't true. I'd hate to have to rewrite mcat physics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanillabear Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 I think the results should be reproduced first before we start writing sensationalist headlines. Apparently they are working on it in Japan and Chicago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clever Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Why? claustrophobic? On a side note, I hope this isn't true. I'd hate to have to rewrite mcat physics. That would explain a lot.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanMaverick Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 It's time to start taking those X-wing flying lessons I guess, gotta be prepared for when we run into the Empire with our new spaceships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aishley Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 It is ironic how media nowadays saying "Science is wrong", even some of my classmates are saying "Einstein Fail"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 I think the results should be reproduced first before we start writing sensationalist headlines. If the finding is correct, awesome. I'm gonna wait until it's backed up before I start planning my vacation to alpha centauri. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBoss Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 People throw around the word proof/proven too indiscriminately these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixFlare500 Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 People throw around the word proof/proven too indiscriminately these days. I have reason to doubt this. I require proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 People throw around the word proof/proven too indiscriminately these days. I'd say the problem is more that people misconstrue "proof" as being certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Since scientific investigation first began thousands of years ago, there have always been discoveries and advances in knowledge and skills. There literally has been and continues an expanding universe of knowledge/skills with greater technological and scientific break throughs daily. So, this is just another step. Onde hundred years from now, our era shall be considered, relatively speasking to what they know then, the dark ages. The human condition, our cuioisity demands that we discover more about the universe around us. I would love to be alive to experience teletrasnsporting, i.e., Beam me up Scotty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drkwhy Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Since scientific investigation first began thousands of years ago, there have always been discoveries and advances in knowledge and skills. There literally has been and continues an expanding universe of knowledge/skills with greater technological and scientific break throughs daily. So, this is just another step. Well said. There's so much out there to explore. It is ironic how media nowadays saying "Science is wrong", even some of my classmates are saying "Einstein Fail"... I hate it when people do this. It's like Newton's laws of motion. "Newtons laws don't exist anymore and are considered false with the rise of quantum mechanics." NO they're NOT! It's applied all around us. ahhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Hood Posted September 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Well said. There's so much out there to explore. I hate it when people do this. It's like Newton's laws of motion. "Newtons laws don't exist anymore and are considered false with the rise of quantum mechanics." NO they're NOT! It's applied all around us. ahhh Quantium mechanics is only an exception to Newton mechanics. Maybe neutrinos will be just an exception to the theory of relativity (maybe because they are antimatter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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