Neutrinos not so fast
Neutrinos not so fast
By Stephan Ornes
November 9, 2011
In September 2011, scientists from Europe reported on tiny particles called neutrinos that traveled faster than the speed of light. “Physicists, the scientists who study energy in all its forms, have long believed that nothing outpaces light in a race through empty space. Understandably, September’s announcement seemed too amazing to be true.” Stephan writes with amazement, “The neutrinos left an underground laboratory in Switzerland and traveled more than 450 miles to an underground laboratory in Italy. Scientists who work on an Italian experiment called OPERA timed the neutrinos as being a smidgen faster than the blaze of light.” As the particles traveled you would have expected that they would start losing energy in the form of radiation. OPERA’s measurements didn’t show any form of energy loss during the experiment. The experiment results seem incredibly off which seems odd to the Boston duo. “I would be ecstatic to see some kind of new physics coming from this experiment,” Andrew Cohen, one of the Boston University physicists, told Science News. But unfortunately the radiation evidence wasn’t there. “It’s just hard to accommodate” the conclusion that the particles outraced light, he says. Cohen worked with his colleague Sheldon Glashow, who won a Nobel Prize in 1979. Scientists do have some ideas although they might not be what they expect. “. A French physicist in Grenoble wonders if some of the neutrinos in the beam started their trip earlier than the scientists think. And a physicist in England, Carlo Contaldi, suggests that the clocks used to time the neutrinos may have been out of sync with each other. Contaldi points out that gravity tugs harder on the Swiss clock than on the one in Italy, and as a result they may have been ticking at different times.” Is this how Stephan describes their newborn idea? Yes, it is. But will it work? Is it true? Let’s hope that they find out!
