September 23, 2011 10:00 am EDT

CERN scientists discover particle traveling faster than the speed of light, Einstein theory threatened

It ain't over till the LHC says so, which is why researchers at CERN are opening up their most recent OPERA experiment to the scientific community before officially releasing its findings. Why, you ask? Because the experiment could shatter one of the fundamentals of physics -- Einstein's theory of special relativity, which says nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light. While studying neutrino oscillations -- where particles shift from one type of subatomic particle (muon-neutrinos) to another (tau-neutrinos) -- scientists clocked a beam of muon-neutrinos outpacing the aforesaid ray of light by 60 nanoseconds. Calling the result "crazy," lead scientist Antonio Ereditato published the findings online, hoping to attract the attention of others who might shed some light on what it all means. We're not expecting a conclusive answer any time soon, but budding whiz-kids can get educated in the links below.

CERN scientists discover particle traveling faster than the speed of light, Einstein theory threatened originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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