NEUTRINOS: faster than the speed of light by Bruce Willis
Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. This is a concept that forms a cornerstone of our understanding of the universe and the concept of time- it is also what Einstein’s theory of relativity states. Neutrinos have been the focus of the OPERA’s (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) experiment for the past three years and the speed of these particles have been measured 15,000 times as they travel from Cern to Gran Sasso 732km away. Neutrinos are constantly produced from the nuclear reactions within stars, and have a negligible mass - if any at all making them very hard to study. These particles were measured to travel at 60 billionths of a second faster than the speed of light. This experiment will be redone by different teams in order to be verified, but if accepted as true can have implications as large as changing the order of cause and effect in our daily lives. Can you imagine something happening faster than you can see it, and thus before it “happens”?
Neutrinos may offer solutions as to why there was more matter than antimatter in the big bang. Proving that neutrinos are faster than light, we may have discovered what form the unknown mass of the universe is in. It is estimated that the observable mass within our universe is approximately 20%, while the rest we know exists due to effects it has on the objects we can see. Thus if neutrinos are proved to travel faster than the speed of light, then the last century of physics was based on false assumptions, and the next century will be full of new doorways.
Can you imagine something happening faster than you can see it, and thus before it “happens”?