Fermilab Will Double-Check CERN's Revolutionary Faster-Than-Light Claim

The universe is far stranger that we can possibly imagine.

I wonder how using LED lights in detecting a neutrino beam enhances the result of checking the speed of neutrinos; " LED LIGHTS!? Really? Oh, ok.

Well they all have bigger brains than me, so I am sure it is an enhancement. But it reads kind of funny.

@MP,

Saves on electricity over halogens and compact flourescents!

I bet the lights will be BLUE!! It makes it look more scientificy and yes i spelled it right cuz i invented it!!!!
you can't take that away from me!

Someone here has never watched Sci-Fi.

No high tech equipment is complete without random flashing LED lights.

We are supposed to get nearer the ultimate truth !

I have this vision of this scientist that is waiting for the neutrinos to arrive and a LED will light and he will BANG a button to stop the timer, lol. So the whole concept of testing faster than light depends upon the reaction of a human. Naaa, this can't be it, no way, lol.

Seriously, I am sure the adding of the LED was important and several books of schematics can justify it, but well all that justification could not be put in the article.

I didn't know Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) could be used to DETECT anything--much less neutrinos (which rarely interact with matter)...

I wish there was more of an explanation for the statement in the article...

---

"Do not offer sympathy to the mentally ill.
Tell them firmly:
I am not paid to listen to this drivel.
You are a terminal boob." - William S. Burroughs

"I didn't know Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) could be used to DETECT anything--much less neutrinos (which rarely interact with matter"

Actually LEDs are used in all kinds of clever ways to detect all kinds of things. For example a typical oximeter used in hospitals (that little thing they clamp on your finger which glows red and measures your blood/oxygen ratio). I agree that the term LED is a little misleading here since the detector end is usually called a photodiode or an avalanche-photodiode and not a light emitting diode, but as far as the physics goes it's essentially the same thing.A neutrino comes along and reacts with some specific medium, like heavy water, to create a free electron. This electron then interacts with the photodiode by knocking out another electron via the photo-electric effect. This allows a detectable current to flow, which becomes the "finishline" marker in the experiment. That's my layman's understanding of it anyway.

Hello World, first congradulations to the people at Cern. but why would Swiss Scientist want to divulge such profound German Science? as I have said before this doesnot belong in the public World forum. and there is no need to repeat the experiment since it is certainly valid. it agrees with observations of faster than light Galaxies. so congradulations to the people at Cern. as to the assumption that nothing can be faster than light. once you have made the assumption it is difficult to retract your assumption. and such was Einsteins assumption. so in this instance General Relativity appears to contradict Special Relativity. but we ask all German Scientist to speak no further of such things in a world wide forum, please cease and desist, sincerely Fezzy Bear p.s. you don't need Fermilab for anything.

Let the findings of OPERA be re-checked at CHICAGO based FERMI LAB.
But results will be the same . This is my deduction on the basis of theoretical work.

How Einstein derived E=mc2 ?

Einstein, A Ann. der Phys. 18 (1905) 639-641.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/E_mc2/www/
In this paper Einstein derived E=mc2.

The derivation of E=mc2 is applicable under SPECIAL CONDITIONS. Also gives inconsistent results. The complete theoretical analysis of Einstein’s derivation yields
E ‘proportional to’ mc2
E α mc2

For details visit
http://www.AjayOnLine.us

Derivation of E=mc2 Revisited
Link http://redshift.vif.com/JournalFiles/V18NO3PDF/V18N3SHA.pdf
http://www.ptep-online.com/index_files/2008/PP-14-12.PDF

Well I personally hope it turns out to be true. Kinda sick of hearing physicists saying all the time that its impossible because of the 'nothing is faster then the speed of light' issue. And the blind belief from many the Einstein knows everything and his theories are always right. Good to see some people still test those theories.

POPSCI GET RID OF THE SMUT!!!!

the problem i see is this, if these results are dupilcated does it really mean neutrinos can move faster than the light speed limit if they don't know how they can accomplish this? can these neutrinos have some way of getting around the light speed without limit actually violating it?
@prime2011...Einstein's theories have so far not been disproven, some of his hypothesis's have been disproven, his theories have always been tested and i don't see it as blind faith in the light speed limit, more like scientists don't believe it will be proven wrong, as is with all theories of science

I'm willing to bet since our planet curves space time, and these particles are traveling at near light speed that there is some slight skewing of the space between the 2 points. Thus allowing the neutrinos to make a "short cut" that wouldn't exist or be noticeable to something moving at lower percentages of c.

As far as I'm aware, neutrinos travel through space-time. If the gravity of earth bent space time (as it does), then for neutrinos to take a shortcut they would have to travel through something else...

Think of it this way:

There are 2 hills with a valley in between. The valley is the "dip" the earth creates in space-time.

If you have two bicycles on one hill, they both have to travel the same distance through the valley to get to the top of the other hill.

If one of the bicycles could fly and just "go straight" through the air, then it could take a shortcut.

---

"Do not offer sympathy to the mentally ill.
Tell them firmly:
I am not paid to listen to this drivel.
You are a terminal boob." - William S. Burroughs

wormholes are theoretically possble, we could do as you say and travel great distances by cheating around the lght speed limit and possibly travel in time? cheers

I think a spontaneous wormhole for the neutrinos would be even more amazing

---

"Do not offer sympathy to the mentally ill.
Tell them firmly:
I am not paid to listen to this drivel.
You are a terminal boob." - William S. Burroughs

I am by no means of a scientific background, I am meerly a avid fan of the community. It is findings like these that really propel my facinations. Every time I read an article I find myself googling 10 different articles/websites doing background research on the subject at hand. To know men and women far more educated than me are still learning and discovering new things is awe inspiring. So this is more a message to all the scientists, physicists, biologist, and so on, your work does not only progress the knowledge of the unknown or impossible but also fuels the passion and interests of the common man to see these same discoveries come to life. Thank you.

Ross Gilmore

As I look at the picture of this article, I just have to know what is behind door number one!

They need to add a "Report this comment as BubbaGump" feature at PopSci... 'cause I'm pretty certain mp == Bubba

---

"Do not offer sympathy to the mentally ill.
Tell them firmly:
I am not paid to listen to this drivel.
You are a terminal boob." - William S. Burroughs

@drchuck1

Don't quote me on anything, but I watch a Stephen Hawking special on the universe that suggest that wormholes theoretically exist on the microscopic level and are thereby not traversable. They open and close at random, and in my opinion could be the culprits behind the split second delay in brain active (i.e. deja vu).

Traversing a wormhole would require the enlargening the mouths (two ends) of a wormhole to the macro level long enough for molecular matter to pass through (I'm thinking Stargate).

Also, hypothesis is less credible than theory, but theory is not scientific fact. Therefore, Einstein is still subject to be wrong about a great many things as the Theory of General Relativity is not the Law of General Relativity. Gotta open your mind to the possibilities of what could be. For this we might discover that the universe is at the whim of our mind's imagination. We can only do what we believe in our minds is possible. So if you think you can fly... and guess what...

@pheonix1012
"For this we might discover that the universe is at the whim of our mind's imagination. We can only do what we believe in our minds is possible. So if you think you can fly... and guess what..."
This is the most arrogant thing I have ever heard; you speak like if sapient beings are gods and lesser creatures (i.e. the other life forms that we share this planet with.) don’t matter at all. But this experiment doesn’t mean anything if it can be reproduced.