SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Faster Than Light Particles Could Wreck Einstein’s Relativity Theory

This is extremely shocking: CERN scientists using a 1300-ton particle detector have measured particles travelling faster than the speed of light. If confirmed, this discovery could invalidate Albert Einstein’s 1905 theory of special relativity and revolutionize physics. Einstein’s theory says that there’s nothing in the universe that could travel faster than light. Now, CERN scientists … Continued

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Scientific breakthrough: Physicists at CERN have recorded particles moving faster than light

Looks like Einstein may have been wrong — An international team of scientists at CERN has recorded neutrino particles traveling faster than the speed of light. According to Reuters: Antonio Ereditato, who works at the CERN particle physics center on the Franco-Swiss border, told Reuters that measurements over three years showed the neutrinos moving 60 … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

The Most Unforgettable Way To Learn About Neutrino Physics

It looks like a scene from some sci-fi epic. But for a week in October, anyone visiting the Manchester Science Festival was able to don a white tyvek suit and paddle through this wormhole of spectacular golden balloons. For science! It was part of a celebrated installation called Super K Sonic BOOOOum by Nelly Ben … Continued

Tech News

The World’s Largest Magnet is Being Built in India

If your microwave suddenly whizzes out your house and down the road, you’ll know India’s successfully built the world’s largest magnet. The 50,000 tons of magnetised iron will be housed underground, making CERN’s 37,500-ton magnet shrink in shame. Why does India need such a large magnet? It’s for their neutrino observatory, which must be built … Continued

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Dark matters could be hiding in the Sun and affecting neutrinos

We’re pretty much certain that dark matter exists, but we’re still working to nail down precisely what dark matter is. One leading candidate, known as the WIMP, might be trapped inside the Sun, sucking heat away and altering fusion reactions. If WIMPs – weakly interacting massive particles – really are the missing dark matter particles, … Continued

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Ask a Physicist: Can I build a doomsday device using neutrinos?

In this week’s “Ask a Physicist,” I get counter-factual and imagine what would happen if we had perfect control over neutrinos. Would we build a death ray? Escape from an Inception dreamscape? Here’s what would really happen – sort of. I’ve known I wanted to do a bit on neutrinos for a while now, and … Continued

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Antimatter deep underground may be key to predicting quakes

A massive particle detector located a mile underground has found bits of antimatter known as geo-neutrinos deep inside the Earth. The find proves the Earth derives most of its power from radioactivity and could help us predict volcanoes and earthquakes. Geo-neutrinos are antimatter particles created by the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium deep … Continued

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‘Galactic Internet’ Could Broadcast Alien Signals

Click to viewIf we received a message from an extraterrestrial civilization, would we necessarily realize it? SETI has long scanned the skies for evidence of alien transmissions, while others have proposed a hunt for physical artifacts sent by our distant neighbors. But neutrino physicists at the University of Hawaii have proposed yet another possibility: that … Continued