Faster than light? Maybe.
Some results from CERN seem to indicate that they have discovered a faster than light particle. As the Daily Telegraph have said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100106792/faster-than-light-extraordinary-claims-require-extraordinary-evidence/
Someone close to me has tweeted, "Don't get the fuss. If an atom can be in 2 places at once, or instant comm b/w atoms in diff countries, surely faster than light is poss?"
I sort of understand the sentiment, but finding a faster than light particle (if that's what has happened) is a huge deal. As much as quantum mechanics gives us really odd stuff, nothing in physics theory has ever needed something exceeding the speed of light. Sure, there have been loads of hypotheses which hypothesise (as they are wont to do) faster than light particles, but to actually find one would be earth shattering.
The great thing about science is that if something thought impossible is discovered, science will investigate the Hell out of it, and if it proves to be valid then science will modify existing theories to accommodate the new findings.
To give a trivial example, consider Newton's theories of motion. They are valid for almost all of our experiences. It's only when you look at extremes that Einstein's theories need to be taken into account.
If faster than light particles have actually been discovered, it's almost certain that Newton's and Einstein's theories will still explain 99.9999% of the universe. It's just that there will need to be an additional theory that covers the extra 0.0001%.
I hope it's true - the implications are amazing. But if not, then that's the great thing about science - it's self-correcting.
Someone close to me has tweeted, "Don't get the fuss. If an atom can be in 2 places at once, or instant comm b/w atoms in diff countries, surely faster than light is poss?"
I sort of understand the sentiment, but finding a faster than light particle (if that's what has happened) is a huge deal. As much as quantum mechanics gives us really odd stuff, nothing in physics theory has ever needed something exceeding the speed of light. Sure, there have been loads of hypotheses which hypothesise (as they are wont to do) faster than light particles, but to actually find one would be earth shattering.
The great thing about science is that if something thought impossible is discovered, science will investigate the Hell out of it, and if it proves to be valid then science will modify existing theories to accommodate the new findings.
To give a trivial example, consider Newton's theories of motion. They are valid for almost all of our experiences. It's only when you look at extremes that Einstein's theories need to be taken into account.
If faster than light particles have actually been discovered, it's almost certain that Newton's and Einstein's theories will still explain 99.9999% of the universe. It's just that there will need to be an additional theory that covers the extra 0.0001%.
I hope it's true - the implications are amazing. But if not, then that's the great thing about science - it's self-correcting.
posted by Alan at 4:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home