09-23-2011, 10:41 AM | #16 |
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I have two distinct points of view to comment the news as reported in the papers.
a) the result of the experiment as such, in its scientific significance b) the communication of the finding of the experiment in the actual public fundings perspective. a) It is not an entirely new discovery. It has been based on 3 years of data, and it follows the findings of the Minos experiment (Fermi Lab). I am not a specialist in any of the fields of science that could be directly interested. Nevertheless, I am not surprised that any, I mean really all of the principles, postulates, hypotheses on which any, and I mean all, theories can be developed about nature, can one day be shown inaccurate to a given degree. My opinion is that it is not of truth that we are discussing but of representations of nature. I doubt that to day any scientist would build a theory of nature based on something that needs to be absolutely certain. b) The paper Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam has 73 authors, from 49 laboratories and from 11 countries: Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Korea, Francia, Turkey, Germany, Japan, Israel, Croatia, Belgium (in the order of quotation). These large numbers give me the idea that it is a call for further fundings, in a moment when all the countries mentioned are going through severe cutting of expenses. It is not an uncommon gesture by the physicist community. It is a technical paper, yes, easy to follow and it looks completely sound to me, but it is signed by administrators also. It has some public relation purpose, in my opinion of course. Somebody is hoping to be able to continue experimenting on this "hot" subject for many many years to come. Like it did happen for the ether caper. |
09-23-2011, 10:48 AM | #17 | |
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09-23-2011, 11:02 AM | #18 | |
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Anyway, scientists always want more funding, and more publications, so surprises there, I'd think. |
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09-23-2011, 11:02 AM | #19 | |
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I am "not surprised" by this finding by itself no more than by any new finding. The difference here is that it involves what are considered and probably are fundamental ideas. So, are the consequences that give it importance, not the thing in itself. I have educated my self to not take anything for granted. |
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09-23-2011, 11:08 AM | #20 | |
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09-23-2011, 11:14 AM | #21 | |
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09-23-2011, 11:19 AM | #22 |
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I would say that 99% of "great findings" we (scientists) see in the lab ARE errors.... if that was not the case we would see bombastic news every week or so
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09-23-2011, 11:20 AM | #23 |
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That what I'm thinking as well Harry and many (most?) physicists (including the authors I think). There have been too many confirmations of relativity both experimentally and mathematically. Though I must admit that I've always secretly found it difficult to accept the speed of light as an absolute upper constant of the universe.
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09-23-2011, 12:14 PM | #24 |
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If you look at it as a rotational transformation of 4-dimensional spacetime, then it's actually a necessary constraint. Not the precise number, but the fact that there is an "upper limit".
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09-23-2011, 12:19 PM | #25 |
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Well sure, if you limit to 4D space...but that's not what string theory is currently saying.
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09-23-2011, 12:23 PM | #26 |
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In the case of the Post, I'd say because they need an audience who gives a damn.
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09-23-2011, 12:25 PM | #27 |
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09-23-2011, 12:33 PM | #28 | ||
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It is not enormously faster. Just a bit. A tiny bit in terms of everyday life. Quote:
An educated guess ? It might also be that the upper limit will have to be nudged up a bit. For neutrinos at least. |
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09-23-2011, 02:43 PM | #29 |
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If you are a scientist, then why do you say silly things about things you do not know? Science is not "guessing" or "hinting" or "feeling" or personal opinions. What kind of science do you do?
Last edited by Salgueiros; 09-23-2011 at 02:48 PM. |
09-23-2011, 03:47 PM | #30 |
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I'm not a scientist of any kind, but I've always thought that no science was truly "settled". My understanding is that the speed of light is one of the most tested things in science, and therefore it would be really surprising if anything was found to exceed that speed. But the possibility of overturning something we "know' is always there -- even if it's only for specific cases or situations.
I would think this would be especially true for cosmological science. What we know about physics beaks down inside black holes (e.g., yielding a lot of infinity values), so it's clear we have something wrong with how we see the universe. Having to rethink the speed of light might be part of that problem. (Again, I'm not a scientist, but that's what comes to mind.) |
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