For over a century, Einstein’s special theory of relativity has stood proudly as one of the governing law of physics. His theory states that the speed of light “c” is a limit and that nothing in the universe at any medium can travel faster than the speed of light (186,282 miles per second). With over 100 years of inspection, this theory has never been challenged… until now.
European physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have found special particles that have the ability to break the speed of light. These ghost-like particles, called neutrinos, constantly change and are able to travel through matter while being virtually unaffected. A team of physicists, originally conducting experiments on this strange particle to observe its dynamic properties, ran into the interesting conclusion that neutrinos were able to out run light (theweek.com).
This experiment, called OPERA, shot beams of neutrinos from CERN to the Gran Sasso laboratory in central Italy (454 miles away). In a race against light, the speed of these particles are 60 billionths of a second faster. Although this is a miniscule number, the effects are massive in the world of physics.
The first question that comes to mind is whether human error could have affected the results. The OPERA team is conducting a thorough inspection of all possible elements that could have obscured the results. They have been analyzing the data for 6 months now and still have not found any evidence against this claim. The verification process is still underway, but if true, these findings could potentially debunk special relativity.
It is predicted that travelling at the speed of light puts time at a standstill. If neutrinos are confirmed to be faster than light, then the theory of time travel comes into play. Imagine a world where one could go back in time to change the course of history. This is just one of the many implications that could become a reality if the exciting results are confirmed.