Thursday, February 23, 2012

I Hate It When That Happens




It hadn't kept me awake at night the way the prospect of a Romney or Santorum or Gingrich presidency does, but I have to admit I was, on some level, disturbed to think that Einstein was wrong. If this, then everything. Neutrinos faster than light? It bothered me. But wait:

According to sources familiar with the experiment, the 60 nanoseconds discrepancy appears to come from a bad connection between a fiber optic cable that connects to the GPS receiver used to correct the timing of the neutrinos' flight and an electronic card in a computer. After tightening the connection and then measuring the time it takes data to travel the length of the fiber, researchers found that the data arrive 60 nanoseconds earlier than assumed.

Can't count the times I've had to wiggle a cord to get something to work. Shoulda thought of it sooner.

3 comments:

  1. OK, I have trouble with Murphy's laws, much less Newton or Einstein...
    but, if it was really a problem with the cord, and Neutrino's don't go faster than "C",
    shouldnt the data arrive LATER?
    and don't you love on Star Trek TOS(The Original Series) there supposed to be in the 23rd Century, bla bla bla, but they still have 19 inch tube TV screens...

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I wondered about that, too. The arrival time, not the TVs. After a few episodes, I realized Star Trek was fiction.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You mean Kirk Did-Int really go back to 1930's Chicago and sleep with a smokin hot 30-something Joan Collins, but he had to let her die, cause if she'd lived the Nazis would have won WW2???
    and you know whats Scary..
    I remember watching Star Trek during its's original TV run...
    I know, you remember watching FDR go on National TV to announce declaring war on Japan..

    Frank

    ReplyDelete

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