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The Forum > General Discussion > NEWSFLASH - Can particles travel faster than light?

NEWSFLASH - Can particles travel faster than light?

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>>GENEVA (AP) — One of the very pillars of physics and Einstein's theory of relativity — that nothing can go faster than the speed of light — was rocked Thursday by new findings from one of the world's foremost laboratories.

European researchers said they clocked an oddball type of subatomic particle called a neutrino going faster than the 186,282 miles per second that has long been considered the cosmic speed limit.>>

See:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5itJoucSavbSyaCCWmiF1ga00gHhw?docId=58b5aed0a77c45ddb163d90951b36b35

Would be REALLY EXCITING if it turns out to be correct but I am sceptical. Tracking and detecting neutrinos is very difficult.

>>Parke said there could be a cosmic shortcut through another dimension — physics theory is full of unseen dimensions — that allows the neutrinos to beat the speed of light.>>

Now that would be something. Can we take a "cosmic shortcut" to Alpha Centauri?

Watch this space.
Posted by stevenlmeyer, Friday, 23 September 2011 12:47:21 PM
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In the 1840s astronomers discover that the orbit of the planet Uranus deviates slightly from the trajectory predicted by Newton’s law of gravity. Is there a flaw in Newtonian gravity?

Two mathematicians, Urbain Le Verrier in France and John Couch Adams in England think not. Independently of each other they theorise that the gravitational pull of an as yet undiscovered planet is nudging Uranus out of its calculated trajectory. Once allowance is made for the gravitational pull of the new planet, so Adams and Le Verrier theorise, it will be seen that Uranus and the new planet are following trajectories dictated by Newton.

Le Verrier gives his calculations for the position of the new planet to the German astronomer, Johann Gottfried Galle in September 1846. Assisted by Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, Galle discovers the new planet early in the morning of 24 September 1846. The new planet is called "Neptune." Newton is vindicated.

After the discovery of Neptune confidence in Newton is close to absolute.

In 1859, the same year Darwin publishes "On the Origin of the Species," Le Verrier reports that the trajectory of Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, is also departing from its Newtonian path. He is confident that this deviation from Newton is also due to an as yet undiscovered planet sunward from Mercury. The planet is given the name "Vulcan" and the search commences.

Vulcan is never discovered. All attempts to explain the anomalies in Mercury's orbit in terms of Newtonian dynamics fail. It will take Albert Einstein's general relativity (GR) to explain Mercury's orbit but in 1859 that is nearly 60 years in the future.

In retrospect Mercury’s tiny orbital anomalies were the first crack in the edifice of Newtonian cosmology. With the publication of GR in 1917 we moved into the era of Einsteinian cosmology.

Are these neutrino observations the first indication that we are moving to the next level, to the era of post-Einsteinian cosmology?

Maybe.

Perhaps we are witnessing one of those rare historic moments in physics that herald the start of a whole new paradigm.

Wouldn’t that be exciting?
Posted by stevenlmeyer, Saturday, 24 September 2011 12:21:25 AM
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There goes another one...

"Nothing can travel faster than light--it's impossible!"
"It's just basic physics: As things travel faster they gain more mass and require more energy & so on & so on --and, anyone, who suggests otherwise shows their ignorance!"

"Anthropogenic greenhouse gases are far and away the major cause climate change. The evidence is so overwhelming (we should censor out
opposing views)"--"The science is settled"

It shows once again that the *real* representatives of science are not those who slavishly follow dogma (however fashionable!) but those who challenge & question --commiserations bonmot & co!
Posted by SPQR, Saturday, 24 September 2011 5:52:44 AM
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I'm also skeptical. The time period is small and the measurement is subject to various imprecisions. I expect this will turn out to be artefactual rather than a real result. Of course, it may turn out that there is some missing term in Einstein's theory - this would be interesting, but it was only ever a model and as such, subject to constant scrutiny. This is science in action!
Posted by Antiseptic, Saturday, 24 September 2011 6:51:35 AM
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Acceleration in a vacuum and a speed limit has never made sense to me.

Science is constantly having to admit that maybe they weren't so right as previously argued to the death.
Posted by StG, Saturday, 24 September 2011 6:55:12 AM
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finally we get more closer to the truths
[perhaps this is more earth shattering that the goings on last night at the un]

finally we are seeing beyond the veil of kiddies explanations...and such formualed simplified spin such as e=mc2..and maybe in time evolution and global warming and c02 polution..lol

like also in the news last night
nasa's satilite didnt 'fall'
seems the 2 solar flairs heated uop the iono-sphere
and that heat slowed the sata/lite*..down ..more than the clever nassa science formulation 'predicted'

its only to easy to be seen as a clever airo.nautical math wizard with a formulatrion..AND A THEORY

just like the formula..that claimed to predict..
winners and loosers in the shock market
failed to predict the bust in 2008

just like the flawed model bling
for cli-mate change

seems the science god head
does have feet of clay...eh?

next lets eliminate the spin
from nauty netanyahoo words of peace..[lol]
at the un..and dare the faulse prince of peace[obama]..
to declare his UN/veto...and reveal which master he is really serving

wonder id the treasurors plan
to save the virtual economy..from destroying the real economy
will be just more wind and spin..or really shock and awe..or just more of the same..for the benifit of the same

or if we seperate the gamblers
from the spin merchants
from the savers

who allways seem to loose their savings

are we enjoying this end time
where we sort the spin goats.,.from the sheeple?

ask for proof
ask for the details..not your con-colusion

the next holy cow will be the c02 model bling
then who knows the truth finally of like making like
[to wit puting to test..the spin of evolution..where species evolve out of genus...lol]

yes we live in amassing time
but its a time where you need to fact check
is this real..or a formulated..focus group bit of..PEER-age...*spin

peers allways get it wrong
use fresh eyes..ie make students confim the theory
with study and fact..i guess the cern helped lead us to deserning..better truths that peer reviewed simplistic spin
Posted by one under god, Saturday, 24 September 2011 10:06:59 AM
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