CERN scientists 'break the speed of light'

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Scientists said on Thursday they recorded particles travelling faster than light - a finding that could overturn one of Einstein's fundamental laws of the universe.

Oh wonderful! A scientific breakthrough!

So what does this mean if anything? As long as they keep looking the will continue to keep finding smaller and smaller parts, faster and faster parts, larger and larger parts. It's never going to end.

originally posted by: onequestion
www.telegraph.co.uk...

Scientists said on Thursday they recorded particles travelling faster than light - a finding that could overturn one of Einstein's fundamental laws of the universe.

Oh wonderful! A scientific breakthrough!

So what does this mean if anything? As long as they keep looking the will continue to keep finding smaller and smaller parts, faster and faster parts, larger and larger parts. It's never going to end.

the article is from 2011 if I'm not mistaken.

That is from 2011 man, and it was a faulty cable in a GPS that made the wrong measurement

Wiki about it

a reply to: Indigent

It's late in normally sleeping now lol.

Yeah I was pumped because they announced this before so I thought this was an up date or new breakthrough..not to be
But they may yet figure out way of cheating the laws of physics and get me that warp drive.

I believe it, they said it was faulty measurement because it went against the teachings of the great god Einstein.

a reply to: VoidHawk

And the people in other groups that tried to replicate the results but only got normal speeds lied too?

Kool story bro

a reply to: VoidHawk

Also the fact that, when they wiggled the said faulty cable it changed the measurements... after switching cables more data was taken and as Indigent said, showed things to be going.... the speed of light, no faster

a reply to: onequestion
Tip of the day: always look at the article's date.

you break it you bought it buddy

originally posted by: onequestion
www.telegraph.co.uk...

Scientists said on Thursday they recorded particles travelling faster than light - a finding that could overturn one of Einstein's fundamental laws of the universe.

Oh wonderful! A scientific breakthrough!

So what does this mean if anything? As long as they keep looking the will continue to keep finding smaller and smaller parts, faster and faster parts, larger and larger parts. It's never going to end.

Didnt einstein say, that it was not possible to travel from below the speed of light, to above the speed of light? Not that it didnt exist? I might be wrong on this

I wonder, are we even able to observe/measure something above the speed of light? its all just numbers and math, and those numbers might someday show something travelling faster than light, but we would have no way of confirming, thats what really happen, and not just something we dont understand yet

Science is getting weirder and weirder everyday, and I love it!!

a reply to: VoidHawk

With respect, the measurements were faulty because the equipment failed. It was replaced, and the experiment run again. Lo and behold, no strange time effect.

It should be noted, that the experiment being referred to is just one of many neutrino related experiments, and if there were the tendency for neutrinos to move faster than light, there would already have been signs of it, from other experiments which have been enacted over the years.

This in mind, and since the equipment itself caused the reading to appear as it did, and since its replacement lead to the results falling within the range of sub light speeds being attained, it is reasonable to conclude that no neutrino broke the speed of light. That is not a matter of bowing to Einsteins theories, but a matter of making reasonable conclusions based on results obtained.

Furthermore, physicists have no reason to be shy about questioning pre-existing theories about how the stuff of the universe behaves, when faced with new data. In fact, when data appears which questions fundamental understanding of the underpinnings of our universe, it causes great excitement and creates investment opportunities for professors and laboratories, universities and colleges, and enlivens public interest in the fields related. These are good for the science, the scientists, and by extension the future of mankind.

This result proved faulty, but in time, challenges will face our scientific community which will require them to ride the raggedy edge of what is considered cannon now, and eventually exceed those limitations. For the moment, until we have a better understanding of the Higgs boson for example, we must be patient. The work to establish the possibility of creating warps in space time has already begun, in the basements of JPL if I remember correctly. There's a gentleman doing some fantastic work with lasers to establish certain baselines and controls for later experiments. The groundwork is being laid, and in time, there will be answers to the speed question, I have no doubt of it.

Till then however, do not bemoan the scientific community for doing their jobs right, and checking their work. Like it or not, progress happens at the speed it happens, not the speed we would like. Aiming ire toward those in the field will not aid their progress toward a future in which humanity spreads its influence from without the confines of this solar system. Getting behind the scientists, and making sure they have what they need to get the work done, will.

a reply to: onequestion

This must be the proof, those news travelled faster than light, since its 2016 now and your source is from 2011 - obviously time travelling siganl into the future.

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
Didnt einstein say, that it was not possible to travel from below the speed of light, to above the speed of light? Not that it didnt exist? I might be wrong on this

I don't know if Einstein actually said that explicitly or not, but that's the implication of his equations which people normally interpret to mean "nothing can travel faster than light" but your interpretation is technically more accurate I think.

I wonder, are we even able to observe/measure something above the speed of light? its all just numbers and math, and those numbers might someday show something travelling faster than light, but we would have no way of confirming, thats what really happen, and not just something we dont understand yet

Science is getting weirder and weirder everyday, and I love it!!

It's a valid question, which was asked in 1962 and the article below discussing that paper was updated a few months ago:

Do tachyons exist?
Basically it says that even if Tachyons (faster than light particles) exist, and it's possible they do according to general relativity, they still wouldn't be able to carry information faster than light, so that takes a little fun out of the idea, unless it turns out relativity is wrong. So far though, relativity seems to be right. The article in the OP is another example where finally, relativity was shown to be right and the neutrinos don't travel faster than light.

a reply to: onequestion

It means all of modern physics could need to be reevaluated. If something can break the speed of light, so can everything else. The new question becomes how, when, why ? If they run into instances where the original constant applies it needs to be rewritten, again and again as it applies or does not. Physics just exploded and fell apart.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

If two photons move away from each other, the distance between them grows faster than the speed of light. So two observers travelling at the speed of light in opposite directions observing each other would appear to travel twice the speed of light.

There are a number of factors that can distort our observations.

a reply to: Aeshma

Relative velocities don't add linearly the resultant speed would be something like =(v1 + v2)|(1 + (v1.v2)/c^2) so the resulting speed relative to one of the particle is actually always smaller to the speed of light (for things going bellow c).

wiki

v1=v2=c

c+c=2c, 1+ c.c/c^2= 2, 2c/2=c, so if two particles travel at speed of light one see the other going at the speed of light.

a reply to: Aeshma

two observers travelling at the speed of light in opposite directions observing each other would appear to travel twice the speed of light.

Let's say there are three observers. You are observer A on Earth, Observer B is traveling north of the ecliptic at 99% the speed of light, and observer C is traveling south of the ecliptic (opposite direction) at 99% the speed of light. None of those three observers sees anything going faster than the speed of light. Your answer is the intuitive one, but it turns out to be completely wrong and this is verified by experiment and observation.

Velocities in relativity are not added, for example 2mph plus 2mph does not equal 4mph as discussed here at 56 seconds into the video (OK almost, but not quite, however the discrepancy becomes more relevant in the scenario you describe and you can use the same math explained here to figure out why your answer is wrong):

Common Misconceptions in Physics


In non-local reference frames, the expansion of the universe can cause distant galaxies to recede faster than the speed of light, but in this case still nothing is traveling through space faster than the speed of light locally. The vast space between the galaxies is expanding.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
Didnt einstein say, that it was not possible to travel from below the speed of light, to above the speed of light? Not that it didnt exist? I might be wrong on this

I don't know if Einstein actually said that explicitly or not, but that's the implication of his equations which people normally interpret to mean "nothing can travel faster than light" but your interpretation is technically more accurate I think.

I wonder, are we even able to observe/measure something above the speed of light? its all just numbers and math, and those numbers might someday show something travelling faster than light, but we would have no way of confirming, thats what really happen, and not just something we dont understand yet

Science is getting weirder and weirder everyday, and I love it!!

It's a valid question, which was asked in 1962 and the article below discussing that paper was updated a few months ago:

Do tachyons exist?
Basically it says that even if Tachyons (faster than light particles) exist, and it's possible they do according to general relativity, they still wouldn't be able to carry information faster than light, so that takes a little fun out of the idea, unless it turns out relativity is wrong. So far though, relativity seems to be right. The article in the OP is another example where finally, relativity was shown to be right and the neutrinos don't travel faster than light.

Thank you very much!

That sounds very exciting, thanks for the link, iam checking it out right now

originally posted by: onequestion
www.telegraph.co.uk...

Scientists said on Thursday they recorded particles travelling faster than light - a finding that could overturn one of Einstein's fundamental laws of the universe.

Oh wonderful! A scientific breakthrough!

So what does this mean if anything? As long as they keep looking the will continue to keep finding smaller and smaller parts, faster and faster parts, larger and larger parts. It's never going to end.

"...scientists are condemned by their unexamined assumptions to study the nature of mirrors only by cataloging and investigating everything that mirrors can reflect. It is an endless process that never makes progress, that never reaches closure, that generates endless debate between those who have seen different reflected images, and whose enduring product is voluminous descriptions of particular phenomena." - The Adapted Mind