After the discovery of tiny particles that can travel faster than light, it seems that the grounds have shaken for Einstein’s theory of special relativity. These findings could possibly break the pillars of the Standard Model of physics that is the basis of how we perceive the universe. For the unfamiliar, the theory states that the speed of light is ‘constant’ and there’s nothing in the cosmos can outrun its speed.
The discovery was made by CERN scientists by shooting a total of 15,000 beams of neutrinos from their laboratory at Geneva towards the Gran Sasso in Italy. Neutrinos are elementary sub-atomic particles with a tiny amount of mass and were created from radioactive decay or in nuclear reactions similar to those in the Sun. It can pass through almost anything undetected without being affected even over long distances. It was first discovered in the year 1934 and until now its existence still mystifies researchers.
After conducting a series of test that took almost 3 years, they found out that Neutrinos is faster than light by 60 nanoseconds.
“It is a tiny difference, but conceptually it is incredibly important. The finding is so startling that, for the moment, everybody should be very prudent.” said Ereditato, who also works at Berne University in Switzerland.
