CERN may have found something that moves faster than light.

Discussion in 'The Thunderdome' started by emainvol, Sep 22, 2011.

Tags:
  1. emainvol

    emainvol Administrator

  2. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    Throw out the physics books, start rewriting the Star Trek franchise.
     
  3. tankervol

    tankervol Member

    Usain Bolt going for a jog, IMO.
     
  4. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    About two standard deviations above my intelligence level.

    Doesn't seem that 90 nanoseconds greatly alters much, though.
     
  5. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    I'm not a physics guy, but 90 nanoseconds changes everything. It'd be like water flowing up a hill, or Skylar McBee dunking a basketball over Lebron James. It is supposed to be absolutely and fundamentally impossible.
     
  6. justingroves

    justingroves supermod

    A brisk jog though.
     
  7. emainvol

    emainvol Administrator

    Basically, for an object to accelerate to the speed of light, it would have to consume infinite energy. This would more or less shit on Einstein, unless they have managed to actually discover tachyons, but I don't think that is what this is.
     
  8. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    I don't see it, from a practical standpoint. Seems that is several decimal points outside the significant figure limitations.

    From an understanding of nature, and a theoretical standpoint, cool. From a practical standpoint, if we take E=mc^2, and just add 90 ns to the speed of light... well hell, we pretty much already round the speed of light anyway.

    I dunno. Other than a pat on the back, a noble prize and a few key words changed in a textbook or two, I don't really see the impact. But, I am also not a physics guy.
     
  9. emainvol

    emainvol Administrator

    What's crazy is that this could be the second monumental scientific discovery in the last year. The organism that was discovered to have arsenic instead of phosphorous as part of its makeup being the other.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2011
  10. JayVols

    JayVols Walleye Catchin' Moderator

    All I want to know is does this make 'warp speed' theoretically possible now? We once thought that it was impossible to break the sound barrier, but we shattered that notion.

    I do hope that they invent an energy/matter transporter soon. My back can't take long drives, and I loathe flying. 'Beam me up Scotty!'
     
  11. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    Familiarize yourself with this:

    Professor Hubert Farnsworth: These are the dark matter engines I invented. They allow my starship to travel between galaxies in mere hours.
    Cubert J. Farnsworth: That's impossible. You can't go faster than the speed of light.
    Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Of course not. That's why scientists increased the speed of light in 2208.
    Cubert J. Farnsworth: Also impossible.
     
  12. hmanvolfan

    hmanvolfan Member

    But here's my question, if a neutrino turned off the light switch could it be in bed before it got dark?
     
  13. hmanvolfan

    hmanvolfan Member

  14. emainvol

    emainvol Administrator

    Theoretically, yes. I think
     
  15. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    I don't think you understand what Einstein's equation really means, then. This means what we thought was "infinity" or "everything" isn't. It isn't that it's only 90 nanoseconds more, it's that our concept of "infinity" is wrong.
     
  16. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    I never touched mass-energy equivalence, so you are very likely correct. I had no idea that it had anything to do with infinity, however... thought it was used only to relate mass to energy via a constant...
     
  17. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    The constant being the maximum possible.
     
  18. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    Well, the speed of light, at any rate. But yes, the maximum possible is now currently... +90ns +/- 10ns.

    Again, not really going to change the measurement of a blast of TNT very much.
     
  19. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    i don't really get it, but it sounded pretty cool.
     
  20. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    There are theoretical ramifications to this, not physical ones like TNT. Obviously, the world is exactly the same today as it was yesterday. But our understanding of it's underpinnings may be completely wrong.
     

Share This Page