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Flaw found in faster-than-light neutrino experiment


http://en.youth.cn   2012-02-24 10:07:00

Researchers have found the experiment in which neutrinos traveling faster than light may be due to the mechanical error rather than a new breakthrough in physics.

The finding was contained in a statement issued on Thursday from the OPERA Collaboration, the group which conducted the experiments.

The researchers have identified that the fiber-optic cable bringing the GPS signal to the experiment's master clock was faultily connected and the GPS may also have been providing the wrong timestamps.

The problems in the experiment was still under investigation, and the effects still had to be confirmed, said James Gillies, spokesman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

In the faster-than-light neutrino experiment conducted in September of 2011, particles were clocked transmitting at a speed of 300,006 kilometers per second, about 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light.

The result of the experiment was considered the challenger to the Einstein's theory and the most astonishing breakthrough in physics in recent years.

 
source : Agencies     editor:: Agencies
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