SPQR

From your latest posting I infer you don't have the faintest idea why most physicists concluded that it was not possible for a material object to travel faster than light. If you did you would not be talking about a "faith."

Oh well, have a good night.

Pericles,

LOL, just noticed your latest post.

Nice one :-)

Here's an oldie but a goodie for ya Pericles:

A neutrino walks into a bar and the bar tender says, 'We do not serve neutrinos here.'
The neutrino says, "Hey, I was just passing through."

While I admire your recent attempts to raise the standard of discourse on these threads Steven, I have come to the conclusion that it might be a bit of a lost cause on this site, as most people don't have an opinion on most actual science, what science discussions there are usually end up being either about evolution or climate change.

"Yep, that theory on the speed of light looks like it's wrong, it's just a matter of time before evolution and/or climate change will be proved the same."

Bugsy

LOL,

Some posters do seem to live in a science-free zone.

Incidentally strictly the problem is that you cannot accelerate a material object that is travelling slower than light beyond the "light barrier."

If something was already travelling faster than light you could not decelerate it below the speed of light. The infinities crop up at the speed of light.

For years scientists have been speculating about particles called tachyons that are doomed always to stay above light speed.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon

Maybe the CERN physicists have discovered tachyons.

Of course according to SR a faster than light particle would have an "imaginary" mass. But maybe in the tachyon case their mass becomes imaginary when they slow down.

Just idle speculation. Don't take these ruminations too seriously.

Then there's the one about two atoms walking out of the bar, one says "I think I lost an electron back in there".
The other says "Are you sure?"
The first says "Yeah, I'm positive!"

well well were comming
into some great jokes

meanwhile
back in the real world

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/soudan-mine-neutrino-faster-than-light

Scientists at the Soudan mine..in northern Minnesota
will now try to replicate..an experiment
detecting subatomic particles
called neutrinos
traveling faster...

from steven
""From your latest posting
I infer..you don't have the faintest idea
why most physicists concluded..that it was not possible
for a material object..to travel faster than light...""

lets assume air presure
or other resistance factors

but cern
is a particle accelorator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_accelerator

""A particle accelerator..is a device
that uses electromagnetic fields..to propel charged particles*
to high speeds and to contain them in well-defined beams.

An ordinary CRT television set
is a simple form of accelerator.

There are two basic types:
electrostatic and oscillating field accelerators.

In the early 20th century,
*cyclotrons were commonly referred to as atom smashers...

Despite the fact that modern colliders
actually propel subatomic particles—...*atoms themselves
now being relatively simple to disassemble without an accelerator—

the term persists
in popular usage when referring
to particle accelerators in general""..

*..isnt an atom..able to be called
'a material object'?

after all its atomic attraction..that adds more
electrons protons neutrons..etc..[the more of them sukkers arround an atom..the heavier its mass..[weight]

i have allways imagined a 'black hole'..to consist in the main simply of basic atoms..stripped of their..other bits

there is a link
to atom smashers
but
im pretty much over the topic
http://science.howstuffworks.com/atom-smasher.htm

''Early in the 20th century,
we discovered the structure of the atom.

We found that the atom was made of smaller pieces called subatomic particles..most notably the proton,neutron,and electron.

However,experiments conducted in the second half of the 20th century with "atom smashers,"..or particle accelerators,..revealed that the subatomic structure of the atom was much more complex.

Particle accelerators can take a particle,
such as an electron,..speed it up to near the speed of light,
collide it..with an atom..and thereby discover its internal parts.

Atom Smasher Image Gallery
http://science.howstuffworks.com/enlarge-image.htm?terms=atom+smasher&page=0

i will leave that
for those needing 'praise'

and willing to do the hard yards..
and trust experts..to explain the topic fully and simply