Light speed barrier broken?

[Platapus]

An object, in this theory, that accelerates to lightspeed, gains mass

Appears to gain mass. Not gains mass. A significant difference.

It is a perception based on a point of observation. That's what old Bertie was saying.

[Falkirion]

So they picked up the Millenium Falcon? "She can make 0.5 past lightspeed"

Sorry, couldn't resist. Glad to see that some people aren't taken in by the steaming pile of excrement the press publish and call news

[Betonov]

Nothing in the known universe travels faster than light, with the exception of bad news. They follow their own laws of physics

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Nothing in the known universe travels faster than light, with the exception of bad news. They follow their own laws of physics

[THE_MASK]

Like i told Hawking , you will never find the god particle if you dont take time out of the equation

[Osmium Steele]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

It's emerged that the particles concerned were actually handicapped due to a broken rib, acquired in an impromptu late-night horse race.

Maybe someone rigged them up a handle?

[Osmium Steele]

It is well known that neutrinos arrive just before the light from a nova/supernova.

It has always been assumed that dying stars emit the neutrinos just prior to the nova.

Perhaps not.

Interesting.

[Diopos]

Originally Posted by Skybird

...
An object, in this theory, that accelerates to lightspeed, gains mass, until at lightspeed it would have gained infinite mass. Which would bring our whole cosmologic model of the universe to a collapse.
...

When "toying" around relativistic speeds, it is better to perceive mass as a measure of inetria rather than the amount of substance. Infinite mass means infinite inertia which means that the body offers infinite resistance to the change of its state of motion.

.

[August]

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

Maybe someone rigged them up a handle?

Just make sure you have a supply of chewing gum!

[Platapus]

A stick of Beeman's

They will pay you back later.

[Skybird]

They say that the universe is saved. The results causing such a sensation last autumn were due to a technical malfunction, or better: a lose cable.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/22/...duct-of-error/

Should I feel disappointed or relieved now?

[u crank]

I know I will sleep much better tonight.

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by Skybird

They say that the universe is saved. The results causing such a sensation last autumn were due to a technical malfunction, or better: a lose cable.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/22/...duct-of-error/

Should I feel disappointed or relieved now?

I read there's to be a press conference on this tomorrow. I hope they share the "debugging" process that led them to find this, was it just a "hey, let's measure this part" or a methodical approach to verify everything?

In the meantime I guess the greater universe is safe from the depredations of the human race.

[NeonSamurai]

Well I for one am sad and disappointed, it is only by refutation (something is proven wrong) that science ever advances. That refutation would have turned physics on its ear and could have been revolutionary. Ah well sooner or later relativity will fall just as every other theory before it did.

One thing you gotta always remember, science is never ever proven right. It can't be. Science is not the truth, it is just our best approximation of what may actually be out there.

[magicstix]

Originally Posted by NeonSamurai

Well I for one am sad and disappointed, it is only by refutation (something is proven wrong) that science ever advances. That refutation would have turned physics on its ear and could have been revolutionary. Ah well sooner or later relativity will fall just as every other theory before it did.

One thing you gotta always remember, science is never ever proven right. It can't be. Science is not the truth, it is just our best approximation of what may actually be out there.

If there's one thing history has shown us, it's that nature abhors infinities. When you find one, invariably it means the math is incomplete and or wrong. The light speed barrier is probably one such infinity.

If you take the equations for pressure in air as a function of speed, they hit infinity at the speed of sound (with the added prediction that your doppler leads you to travel *backwards* in time), so it should thus be impossible to exceed the speed of sound. However, this of course isn't the case; it's just another situation where the math is wrong.