Geneva: Scientists at the world's largest physics lab say they have clocked subatomic particles traveling faster than light. If that's true, it would break — if not severely twist — a fundamental pillar of physics.
Nothing is supposed to go faster than light. But scientists say that neutrinos — one of the strangest well-known particles in physics — smashed past the cosmic speed barrier of 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers).
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, says the speeds were detected in a neutrino beam fired from Geneva to a lab 454 miles (730 kilometers) away in Italy.
Baffled scientists are asking others to independently verify the measurements or find other more mundane explanations for the measured speed.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, September 22, 2011, 23:54