[len56]

hello, universe

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/s...-of-light.html

[aut0sh0cker]

i think that's a bit premature to say

[yakev724]

Here's the actual paper. Reading news reports is best only to browsing youtube/reddit/etc. on the subject.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.4897

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll try my best to clear anything up.

[ChineseGuy]

^^

How does this news affect the field of physics and EVERYTHING, generally?

[BrokenVert]

Its been known for some time that there are particles that travel faster than light.

The Speed of Light isnt an impenetrable barrier. It is simply a limit that is sent to infinity.

You can go ffaster, but if you do youll never be able to slow beyond the speed of light. Those of us that are slower than light can never go FTL.



However warp drive is possible. Because it exploits a cosmic loophole. Warp drive moves the space around you, so according to the universe you arent moving.


Its crazy stuff when you get into it.

[carve]

Results are preliminary. They were announced so other researchers could try to verify or faslify them. Lets wait and see.

If they're confirmed, it'll be right up there with relativity. Our understanding will really change.

Broken Vert: the speed of light isn't a limit set to infinity. It's finite. No known particles travel faster than light.

We don't know if warp drive is possible, but the concept doesn't violate relativity.

[yakev724]

Originally Posted by ChineseGuy

^^

How does this news affect the field of physics and EVERYTHING, generally?

The largest effect it could potentially have (within a few years) is on astrophysics, and even there it would tweak dimensions and models that only few outside of the field know about. Relativity is also commonly used in quantum and high energy beam and particle physics, and even there, it has successfully modeled essentially every experiment performed. A slight change in the model as would be required if these findings are confirmed would have essentially no effect on experimental particle physics (unless some neutrino detectors were to be built to study the phenomenon specifically) for many many years. Keep in mind that multi-billion-dollar accelerators are being built (usually one every decade) with their designs and proposed experiments resting soundly on the relativistic model. This has and will be the case, even if something were to change in that model.

There's also potential to influence small aspects of the neutrino physics model. Neutrinos have some very unique properties and it wouldn't surprise me if this phenomenon was unique to them. Their composition and behavior has only been generally modeled. We've accelerated electrons (can be imagined as charged neutrinos) to within a small fraction of a percent of the speed of light, and they've followed the relativistic model precisely.

In sum, nothing will be affected besides a few specific fields in physics. The relativistic model does perfectly well to describe everything we've worked with thus far, and will continue to be taught exactly the same way in undergrad physics, even if it is proven that these neutrinos did in fact travel faster than light. The 2032 M3 won't have a neutrino-accelerated KERS with 1240hp bursts.

[WDBi]

what were the mods? was this on pump or race gas

[Gearcraft]

Originally Posted by yakev724

The 2032 M3 won't have a neutrino-accelerated KERS with 1240hp bursts.

bummer. i was looking forward to that.

[Brey335i]

Originally Posted by Will@StageX

what were the mods? was this on pump or race gas

Definitely NOS

[BMWinNorthdakota]

toooo muchh thinking involved itt

NO super light speed ride no care

[Cdnrockies]

Originally Posted by yakev724

In sum, nothing will be affected besides a few specific fields in physics. The relativistic model does perfectly well to describe everything we've worked with thus far, and will continue to be taught exactly the same way in undergrad physics, even if it is proven that these neutrinos did in fact travel faster than light. The 2032 M3 won't have a neutrino-accelerated KERS with 1240hp bursts.

I strongly disagree with the first bolded statement.

As someone else with a scientific/physics background, this event....if replicable....will change many things....in the future.

This is the kind of ground breaking event that will alter the thinking of many generations of future scientists. This is no different than many of the scientific discoveries of the past that were rooted in convention.

The confirmation of a faster than light particle would open the door for possiblities that are, right now, reserved strictly for science fiction. Sure, practical applications are, and would still be, negligible....BUT....the future is a very long time.

[yakev724]

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

I strongly disagree with the first bolded statement.

As someone else with a scientific/physics background, this event....if replicable....will change many things....in the future.

This is the kind of ground breaking event that will alter the thinking of many generations of future scientists. This is no different than many of the scientific discoveries of the past that were rooted in convention.

The confirmation of a faster than light particle would open the door for possiblities that are, right now, reserved strictly for science fiction. Sure, practical applications are, and would still be, negligible....BUT....the future is a very long time.

No, i agree completely. The time scale is very difficult to imagine. I was just trying to clarify that there are very few things which could change in the relatively (yep, went there) near future (several years/decades). In contrast to the media, which is expectedly quick to over exaggerate, and may cloud the understanding of those not familiar with relativity.

[yakev724]

[BrokenVert]

^That picture is amazing

[Kroy]

Looks like he almost has a troll face going.

[Gearcraft]

Originally Posted by Kroy

Looks like he almost has a troll face going.

somebody should make that a meme. haha.

[jpsum]

[yakev724]

[UncleWede]

Even if some particles appear faster than C, it will still remain a fundamental constant in the world of physics as we know it.

Now, that fact that something may go faster does open up doors of possibilities and let new, brilliant minds walk along previously untread pathways of imagination.

[3_runner]

Originally Posted by yakev724

Here's the actual paper. Reading news reports is best only to browsing youtube/reddit/etc. on the subject.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.4897

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll try my best to clear anything up.

I have a question. I have no experience with astrophysics say for an astronomy class way back in college. I always thought C and time were related, the faster you go the more time slows down. If time is nothing more then the breakdown of atoms, then if you travel faster the atoms breaking down, wouldn't you travel at a rate where atoms are in equilibrium or even reconstructing? Are those particles moving through time?

[BayMoWe335]

I think traveling faster than light could mean time loops back on itself (backward in time).