FTL Neutrino Dream is Over: Dodgy Hardware Connection to Blame

Yes, the faster-than-light neutrino dream is over. Last September, the OPERA experiment reported that neutrinos took some 60 nanoseconds less time to travel from Geneva to Gran Sasso, Italy. Repeat experiments reported the same results too and scientists couldn't find any experimental error. However, unease over these results remained and with good reason. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity has been confirmed many, many times over and to high accuracy, so any result that appears to break the theory had better be solid. Real solid. The theory states that nothing can travel faster than light and to date, this has held true under the most stringent of objective tests.

No, the reason for the discrepancy was very mundane indeed, as researchers had suspected: it appears to have been caused by a bad connection between a GPS unit and a computer. As Science Insider explained:

"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. Since this time is subtracted from the overall time of flight, it appears to explain the early arrival of the neutrinos. New data, however, will be needed to confirm this hypothesis."

Oops, red faces all round. No doubt, this revelation of an elementary error is very frustrating and somewhat embarrassing to all those researchers that had been working on this result for the last five months or so. We reckon that if it was a techie who unfortunately missed this when putting the equipment together will get his marching orders soon. If it was one of the research scientists, then ritual humiliation is sure to follow, including exclusion from all the best geek conventions and social get-togethers, the poor sap.

Picture source: Wired article on this subject, which has some more details about this.