There's been much hullabaloo about the discovery of supposed faster-than-light neutrinos at CERN. How is this possible? Was Einstein wrong? Is this the beginning of a new physics?
According to Einstein's relativity, nothing can go faster than the speed of light. To do so would break relations between mass, energy, and most significantly, time. (Google "Einstein's Relativity Proven Right". There are literally hundreds of experiments and instances where it has been confirmed. In fact, if relativity were untrue, your GPS wouldn't work!)
So where do these neutrinos fit in? As it turns out, that isn't the question at all. This experiment is a single experiment in a single lab that has yet to replicate its results, or find anyone who can. Remember learning the scientific method in elementary school? Part of the scientific method that is necessary in professional science (perhaps not in elementary science) is confirmation of results, by either replicating the experiment or mathematically proving the possibility of your results. In this neutrino experiment, neither has occurred.
A theory running about is that the scientists didn't account for the GPS satellite's motion properly, as such an error would account for their error of 64 nanoseconds exactly.
If they weren't wrong, and neutrinos can travel faster than light, that doesn't mean we throw out relativity, just like we didn't throw out Newtonian physics when they failed with larger masses and faster speeds (we just developed relativity to pick up where Newtonian mechanics left off!). If anything, this just means that relativity is incomplete--not proven wrong.
Either way, there is a lot more to this story than the headlines, "Einstein's rolling in his grave." In fact, if he were alive, I rather think he'd be fascinated.
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