Scientists Discover Particles Travelling Faster Than the Speed of Light

Could This Be the Beginning of a Warp Speed Revolution?

by Michael Reubelt on September 23, 2011

Scientists working in Europe have come across puzzling, possibly revolutionary, findings. From a laboratory in Switzerland, scientists sent particles, called neutrinos, through the Large Hadron Collider to another laboratory in Italy. The neutrinos travelled the nearly 455 miles in less time than it would take light. If the measurements are correct it could completely reshape the world of physics.

The speed of light is thought to be the fastest speed at which something can travel. Einstein’s famous theory of relativity relies on the fact. Since the field of quantum physics is entirely reliant on that theory, a way to travel faster than light could cause complete upheaval throughout the science and be a step into making the faster-than-light “warp speed” of Star Trek a reality.

Because of the incredible consequences this discovery could mean if it is true, scientists, especially those involved in the experiment, have remained highly skeptical. The researchers involved in the initial experiment have undergone rigorous repeat experiments, about 16,000, and have had the same result.

“We tried to find possible explanations for this,” said Antonio Ereditato, who authored the report, “We wanted to find a mistake—trivial mistakes, more complicated mistakes, or nasty effects—and we didn’t. When you don’t find anything, then you say ‘Well, now I’m forced to go out and ask the community to scrutinize this.’”

And that is just what has happened. A conference on September 23^rd will discuss what the scientific community thinks of these results. Results have been released for peer review and everyone is trying to find what might have gone wrong.

The neutrinos travelled the distance 455 miles between the two laboratories in 0.0024 seconds and arrived faster than light would have over the same distance. How much faster? 0.00000006 seconds, which is actually quite a bit faster when discussing the top speed in existence.

The results, if true, could eventually lead to the idea of wormholes, another science fiction idea. These are ways of connecting two distant points and space and travelling between them.

“Let’s say you go from London to Sydney – you fly around the Earth. The other way to do it is to go through digging a big tunnel straight through the Earth, and that’s the shortcut,” says Brian Cox, a physicist who has worked at the Swiss laboratory, “In some ways extra dimensions can behave like that and … the neutrinos could be taking a shortcut through another dimension.”

Whatever is decided, it is an exciting time in physics, and could lead to the realization of ideas and businesses once relegated to the world of fantasy.

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