CERN measures particles moving faster than the speed of light
SEP 23, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025595
Los Angeles Times : A team at CERN has announced that it has observed neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light—about 60 nanoseconds faster. Such an observation, if verified, would have enormous implications for our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature. The scientists reached their conclusion after sending streams of neutrinos speeding from an accelerator at CERN to a detector at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, about 724 km away. Nevertheless, they calculated the margin of error in their measurement to be 10 nanoseconds, making the difference statistically significant. They are now asking the US’s Fermilab and Japan’s T2K to confirm the findings. CERN called a press conference at 10:00am EDT this morning. Physics Today‘s Steve Corneliussen discusses the coverage by the New York Times and the Washington Post of CERN’s findings.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
