The Speedy Neutrino, Or "The Earth Is Flat, My Friend"

Well, either the Earth is flat and the sun is rotating around us, or the Diskworld is travelling through space, thanks to the Great A'Tuin (all right, wrong universe on that one, but it was too tempting to exaggerate, and you'll soon see what I mean).

If we consider that the first theories that were formulated, once widely accepted, must not be challenged, then, we're in trouble.

I'm not a scientist (maths is far from being my forte), but I'm curious, and I can understand some chemistry, physics and even a decent bit of quantum mechanics. The reason for this post, you’ll understand, is the circus around the possibility that tiny lil’ neutrino might have travelled faster than light, which was deemed impossible until now, according to Einstein’s theories.

Not so long ago, the Earth was deemed flat and considered the centre of the universe, but we know better now.

Our knowledge expands, whether some like it or not (I’m ready to bet there were some Inquisition blokes who were all disappointed when sciences improved and demonstrated some theories).

This kind of annoying narrow-mindedness isn’t limited to scientists. A few years ago, and unfortunately long before I started taking down notes on information that could prove useful later, I remember watching a documentary about two history students who’d been all but burnt at the stake for working on the controversial, and some thought mythical, “blue lotus” that can be seen in so many Egyptian temples and frescoes in tombs (apparently, it’s not a blue lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), but a variety of lily (Nymphaea caerulea)).

[If anyone knows the title of that documentary, do tell me; I haven’t been able to locate it again]

The two students worked on a thesis that was seen as rubbish by their teachers, and most of the professors and Egyptologists all around the globe. Though the details are in a blur, I think I remember the students could kiss their careers goodbye (or they were asked to present another work, I can’t honestly be sure); what I do remember was that I was shocked by the reactions of the teachers/researchers (all the more since I’d just started some serious research for my future PhD professor). I found the conclusion absolutely heart-wrenching as the thesis of the two students was proven correct some months later, but too late for their reputations.

The fact that they’d been working on something that was thought to be extinct, or mythical, was their undoing. They’d gone against the mainstream and were crucified for it. When they wrote their thesis, there was not much (and no one) to back them up; the proof was in the past, and it looked too much like some fairy tale; their original idea was dismissed as foolish – and yet… they were right, from A to Z (the ancient Egyptians had been promoting their own version of drug, sex and rock ‘n’ roll on their walls – they probably wanted to ensure repeats for all eternity).

I won’t even come near some other Egyptologists who refuse to acknowledge the possibility of alternate explanations (about the Sphinx or about the building of the pyramids), because they’re oh-so-sure and convinced that they know the truth.

Oh, the arrogance.

Now, let us go back to our cute neutrino, that fascinating mystery that still puzzles us, and let’s do the time-warp back to last September when a team of Italian physicists declared that some sub-atomic particles, our dear neutrinos, had reacted in tests (carried out by Opera - the Oscillation Project with Emulsion Tracking Apparatus) in a way that suggested that they were able to go faster than light (which is entirely impossible in Einstein’s book since he said that nothing can travel faster than light).

Right.

Why not?

I mean, we know the Earth isn’t flat. Knowledge expands and sciences improve, so… what’s the problem?

Well, as I see it, the problem is that some researchers treat their work as if it were a religion, and the first who doesn’t respect the current dogma must be silenced.

The Opera team was extremely cautious, and they repeated the tests with variants so as to make sure that they weren’t seeing things (and that no one in the team had chewed too many Egyptian blue lilies). They knew what kind of bombshell they’d be dropping the second they published their findings; they’d be turning Einstein’s theory of relativity into a thing of the past, and something wrong (or at least, not entirely right).

Since the current laws of physics are ruled by Einstein’s theory, that’d leave the physicists in a world without their usual life preserver. Now, I understand that the prospect of losing the theory that’s been the guideline for almost one hundred years can be scary, but if there’s a chance that the theory isn’t fully valid, challenge it!

Instead, we’ve got the physicists’ holy inquisition squad, sorry, I mean the Icarus collaboration (pardon me, but who’s the genius who picked up that acronym? It may stand for “Imaging Cosmic and Rare Underground Signals”, but if “imaging” refers to “cosmic signals” and “rare underground signals”, then why didn’t they choose Carusi? Cosmic and Rare Underground Signals Imaging. Less ridiculous than Icarus in my book) refuting the Opera team’s findings, saying that since there was no fall in energy in the results from Opera, then it’s impossible that neutrinos could travel faster than light. You see, that’s because there has to be a fall in energy if something were to travel faster than light… Well, that’s according to the current theory; the one that says that nothings can travel faster than light.

Cool paradox there, guys. No… really.

The Opera team was careful, but they had to make an announcement. Now, they’re waiting for other places to make the same tests and to come to their own conclusions (for example, scientists from the Minos consortium plan to do the same tests in Illinois next year). More tests sound scientific, but the heresy is just too much for some.

The Icarus (can’t get used to the name, really!) collaboration has already issued a study that refutes the Opera findings. What? Already?! Whoa! That’s quick, guys. Oh, wait, there are some people on your side, like Cern physicist Tommaso Dorigo, who declared the study “very simple, yet definitive”.

Wait a minute, my dear. “Definitive”? As in, “if you try to disrespect Einstein’s theory, we’ll shun you and we’ll discredit you, because there’s no other possibility”? Is that it?

There’s even a professor, Jim Al-Khalili from Surrey University, who said that he’d eat his boxer shorts if the test is correct. Eh?!

Is this research and science? A modern religion that admits no variation from the chosen, current dogma?

If so, and I’m afraid it is, it’s quite sad.

Perhaps Opera is right.

Perhaps it’s Icarus (that name!).

I find either possibility interesting, and, let’s face it, if dear neutrino does travel faster than light, it’s not going to change my life (then again, it’s true that I’m not a physicist), but the one thing that annoys me beyond words, though, if you’re on this page you’ve read quite a few of my words on the topic, is the fact that these “researchers” aren’t excited by a new idea, a new possibility.

They think “the blue flowers on the wall are just pretty” and “last century, Master Albert said that nothing can travel faster than light”, and they wrap themselves in that shiny belief, like a baby clings to its comfort blanket.

Where’s the excitement, the challenge?

Where’s the awe?

I am curious, and I love to learn new things (I stopped counting the times people told me that it was bad, and that I should focus on a pin’s head, but that’s boring in my book).

If I were a physicist, when the Opera group published the results of their tests, I’d probably have attempted to cartwheel (gravity would have had a moment of fun then), and then I’d have gathered my own team for a pow-wow about what we could do to demonstrate that theory (or discover that something else happened, and if so… what?).

If I were told that in a parallel dimension (some believe there are several dimensions in our universe), the Earth is flat and has its star orbiting around the planet, my one and only reaction would be “Bloody brilliant!”.

I think I’m utterly disappointed that researchers and scientists behave like scared toddlers and/or bullies.

There’s so much to learn, and we have (relatively) so little time on this rock. Why waste time?

With sciences, just the way it was with religious beliefs, one must let go of one’s fears.

Without fears and with an open mind, mankind would become so much better. Yet, I wonder if most brains in this world aren’t wired in a way that makes them crave for the comfort of what’s identified and known – the safety of the security blanket for the mind.

We’re not cats; curiosity’s not going to kill us (not if we do use our brains).

It’s going to be funny if, next year, Speedy Neutrino wins the race for good, and the whole theory has to be challenged.

If our Earth isn’t flat, then maybe neutrinos do travel faster than light, and without losing energy.

What fun the universe would be having if the Minos consortium proved the Icarus collaboration wrong! (Name karma?)

It’s not that I want to see Jim eat his boxer shorts, not really, but I’d love to see all the arrogant people who think they know anything definitive be proven wrong in a massive way.

Curiosity, open mind and humility, people.

The more one learns, the more one realizes that one knows… well, sparks of stuff, shreds of things, bits of elements. Knowledge is fascinating and such a human challenge, let’s not turn theories into religions, that’d be counter-productive.

One quid on Speedy Neutrino in the light race. Ta!