Speed of light 'broken' by scientists

BoFox · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:45 am

Quote:

But last night it emerged that the man who laid the foundations for the laws of nature may have been wrong.

The science world was left in shock when workers at the world’s largest physics lab announced they had recorded subatomic particles travelling faster than the speed of light

If the findings are proven to be accurate, they would overturn one of the pillars of the Standard Model of physics, which explains the way the universe and everything within it works.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... tists.html

Quote:

Einstein’s theory of special relativity, proposed in 1905, states that nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. But researchers at the CERN lab near Geneva claim they have recorded neutrinos, a type of tiny particle, travelling faster than the barrier of 186,282 miles (299,792 kilometers) per second.

The results have so astounded researchers that American and Japanese scientists have been asked to verify the results before they are confirmed as a discovery.

Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for the researchers, said: “We have high confidence in our results. We have checked and rechecked for anything that could have distorted our measurements but we found nothing.”

Scientists agree if the results are confirmed, that it would force a fundamental rethink of the laws of physics.

John Ellis, a theoretical physicist, said Einstein’s theory underlies “pretty much everything in modern physics”.

apoppin · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:38 am

It is about time to rewrite that tired old theory
:hello:

BtW, this is the second time this has been announced; the first time the margin of error was too high:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... light.html

What do researchers expect to find? Of course, Einstein was wrong. Our universe is much smaller than anyone imagines.
:hello:

grstanford · **Joined:** Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:19 am **Posts:** 4968

Unless our universe is the surface of a sphere, capable of joining up with it self everywhere, seamlessly no matter where you are on it, then there will exist regions outside of the universe that you define. What are these if they are not part of the universe? Even if the universe was a spherical surface, you can put spheres into containers, what is the space in the container? What about the space outside the container?

apoppin · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:13 am

How about a sim? How would we view our universe if it is a simulation?
:think:

... indeed, think of a seamless energy sphere which is capable of expansion and contraction.

grstanford · **Joined:** Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:19 am **Posts:** 4968

We would see it exactly the same, since we are in a low level sense simulations (our cells work by running DNA programs).

apoppin · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:19 am

/my point

SirPauly · **Joined:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:56 pm **Posts:** 802

Good find! (thy)

SickBeast · **Joined:** Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:57 pm **Posts:** 3977

Interesting. I saw something about this on the news last night.

I'm not sure what to make of it, personally. On the surface it appears to build upon what Einstein theorized, rather than outright proving relativity as being wrong. Einstein's theory of general relativity has been more or less proven as far as I know.

So, atoms still cannot exceed the speed of light, and as they approach the speed of light, their mass approaches infinity. That said, these tiny "neutrinos" can apparently go faster. The speed of light still remains quite the speed limit.

If someone can figure out a way to harness these neutrinos and allow them to work electrically in a CPU or other device, then this could turn out to be quite the breakthrough, particularly if they can travel at speeds several times faster than the speed of light.

grstanford · **Joined:** Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:19 am **Posts:** 4968

Quote:

It is about time to rewrite that tired old theory

Quote:

Of course, Einstein was wrong.

That "tired old theory" is the basis for almost every technological innovation in our lives and for something that is "wrong" it has had a HUGE impact upon humans and their world. It might not be a perfect theory and it might not be 100% correct, but it is pretty damn close (way closer than any theory before it and a few after it), and the evidence for that is all around you.

Oh, and it has yet to be proven that the results of the topic are anything more than experimental error or data error at this point.

SickBeast · **Joined:** Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:57 pm **Posts:** 3977

Yeah, I'm floored at the fact that our media here in Canada also made it out as though Einstein was wrong as well.

People say a lot of ignorant things. The unfortunate side of it is that other people buy into their nonsense and believe it as truth.

Speed of light 'broken' by scientists

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