The fastest known speed has always been the speed of light, ever since Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity. His famous formula E = mc2 has been a familiar equation since the earliest of our physics classes. However, on September of 2011, scientists in Italy discovered that neutrinos, subatomic particles that are a fundamental part of the universe, travel sixty billionths of a second faster than the previously established c = 3.0 x 108 m/s, the speed of light in a vacuum.
Neutrinos. Photograph: Cern/Science Photo Library
The experiment was conducted in the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy, which received neutrinos sent from a CERN beam in Switzerland (720 km away). Over three months, the test was repeated 15,000 times to search for any possible error, before the positive results were finally announced.
As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir in the scientific world. The experiment was immediately under the scrutiny of a wide variety of physicists, because if proven, it would rock the core of innumerable concepts of science as we know it.
One small flaw has been discovered in the methods so far, which was immediately rectified, before the tests were replicated a further 20 times. However, the results still showed a speed faster than that of light, and comparable to the previously obtained results.
Numerous physicists have tried to explain or disprove this controversial phenomenon. Dr. Carlo Contaldi of Imperial College London says that the varied gravitational effects at the different regions might have affected the clocks that were used to measure the neutrinos’ speed. Susan Cartwright of Sheffield University suggested that as neutrino-based experiments have historically not been very reliable, it would be wise not to jump to conclusions at too early a stage.
If, however, it is concluded that the speed of the neutrinos is in fact greater than the speed of light in a vacuum, the ramifications would be massive. Einstein’s theory will be disproven, and there would be a lot of revision of many basic physics concepts. Possibly the most significant impact would be on our understanding of the fundamental idea of time – it could be concluded that we might theoretically be able to send information back in time.
References: Neutrinos still faster than light in latest version of experiment, Faster than light particles found, claim scientists, Speed of light broken again as scientists test neutrino result
