OPERA confirms earlier claims of faster-than-light neutrinos

06-08-2014 • http://www.gizmag.com, By Ben Coxworth

Given that Einstein's special theory of relativity states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, their proclamation was naturally met with some skepticism - various physicists stated that there was likely a flaw in the design, implementation or calculations involved the experiment. To their credit, the OPERA collaborative made a point of inviting other scientists to try to replicate their results. In the meantime, however, they've replicated those results themselves, and announced today that neutrinos still appear to be the speediest particles in the universe.

The original set of experiments consisted of generating a neutrino beam at the Geneva-based CERN particle accelerator, and shooting it 730 kilometers (454 miles) south to an underground laboratory in Gran Sasso, Italy. While photons (light particles) had been repeatedly detected at Gran Sasso 2.4 milliseconds after leaving CERN, the neutrinos reportedly made the same trip in 60 nanoseconds less time.