opinion Find neutrinos in Nature, not news Jamie Warner Opinion Editor
A zero-mass, zero-charge particle called a neutrino is shot straight through the Earth’s crust at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. It passes through solid rock and pops out almost 500 miles away into a room of Ghostbuster scientists poised with extremely sensitive instruments to capture this intangible particle. What sounds like science fiction actually did happen. The team at CERN was attempting to measure the speed of the neutrino, and what they found was shocking: it arrived 0.00000006 seconds sooner than it would have if it were going at the speed of light. What does this mean? For one, particles can travel faster than the speed of light, meaning that the work Einstein did needs to be extended – that is, if the experiment holds out. In reality, the likelihood of systemic error, that is, an overlooked
flaw in the experiment, is very high because the experiment was so complicated. The scientific community is now waiting on Fermilab, right here in the Midwest, to see if the results are valid. This is how science works: people constantly reevaluate each others’ work and question what they know. However, that is not always the idea people get from the media. The media tends to sensationalize scientific advancements and ultimately lowers scientific literacy and interest. A Fox News headline on the neutrino experiment ran, “‘Faster Than Light’ Particles Make Time Travel Possible, Scientist Says.” Laura Smith-Park of CNN could not help but wedge a discussion on time travel and the Grandfather Paradox (the paradox resulting from someone going back in time and killing their grandfather) in her coverage of the event.
“No, I’ve witnessed people texting in class.”
Claire Johnson Grade 9
This seems to be the case for most science reporting: either teleportation, time travel or other science fiction was just discovered, or the sleeping scientific world has just been turned on its head. News needs readership, yet few people want to hear about the “Response of Pine Natural Regeneration to Small-Scale Spatial Variation in a Managed Mediterranean Mountain Forest.” In reality, measurements are full of uncertainty, and results are rarely as straightforward as the morning news presents them to be. This is hardly the media’s fault. It is the viewers who decide what is popular, and credit should be given to the media for reporting on science at all. The problem is that reporting weighted toward dramatic news is the only source for most people’s science news, resulting in confusion on the distinction between science and popular science or science fiction. Here is the difference: Real science is published in journals, not newspapers. It is about expanding human knowledge and making enlightening experiments, not tr ying to recreate Back to the Future. The way experiments are reported makes people think scientists are complacent until the new discovery takes them to the drawing board, but the fact is that scientists are always at the drawing board. It is easy to stop the system. Scientific journals are often open and readable online if someone wants to know what is actually going on. In the meantime, just take reported science with a grain of salt.
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Almost Halloween. Also, trick-or-treating in high school.
Confusing actual murderers with people just dressed up as them.
Haunted corn mazes. Getting hopelessly lost has never been so much fun.
Getting a cold when it is not even cold (yet). Also, the flu season.
Jumping in leaf piles even though you are “too old.”
Rebellious homeowners who trick instead of treat.
Surviving one month of school. High fives. Monopoly is back at McDonald’s. Leaves changing colors while the temperature is still in the seventies. Nature, you never cease to amaze me.
It has only been one month? Being “left hanging.” Neckbeards.
Costumes – for cats and dogs. It is only cute until you notice the incommunicable despair and shame in their eyes.
“Not really. People are still going to text if they feel like it.”
“I feel like I’ve noticed fewer people texting in class, yes.”
Jackson Heinrichs Grade 10
Alex Ames English Instructor
“Yes. People wait until passing time to contact the person they need to talk to.”
“Absolutely not. You can start conversations in the hallway and carry them into class.”
Kelly Moran Grade 11
Sam Averill Grade 12
“Has the new texting rule solved texting in class?”
Photo poll by Jamie Warner and Lydia Dorn Page 6
October 12, 2011