“Neutrino Faster Than Speed of Light

- CERN Physicist(s) -

Source: Associated Press YouTube Channel

Since secondary/high school, haven't we always been told that light is the fastest? Haven't we been accepting Albert Einstein's theory of E = mc² without questioning?

Well, all the above-mentioned is now being thrown into a state of flux. Scientists at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland claim that they can prove that a neutrino (a particle) has travelled faster than light. Apparently, all is done in a giant particle accelerator straddling the Swiss and French border where results have shown that the neutrino actually travels a 60 billionths of a second faster than light's 186,000 miles per second (See Article).

Sounds amazing right? The news came as a shocker to me when I heard it. Mankind really lives up to their name of never accepting the status quo; forever questioning and always being inquisitive to know more. While it may seem as a breakthrough, nothing is concrete as yet until other scientists have carried out tests on this bold hypothesis from the CERN team.

If it were proven to be true in the near future, it will certainly be a great step forward for mankind. Many textbooks/science encyclopedias will also have to be re-written. Even if such a situation were to materialize, I believe that the Einstein's contribution(s) to science will still be remembered by all.

Science has always been about proving the truth from the false. This commitment by scientists to persist in their quest for answers epitomizes the spirit of mankind in always seeking to improve despite our limitations.

Finally, I believe in the saying, "What we can't find, doesn't mean that the thing doesn't exist. It only means we haven't found it yet."  In other words, there may be particles even faster than the neutrino and light BUT we have simply not discovered it yet. The universe is simply too vast and unpredictable for us, mankind to fathom.