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Scientists at CERN ( European Organization for Nuclear Research) explore many aspects of the
microworlds, starting from the atomic nucleus to the mysteries of antimatter. They have many powerful
devices, including the Large Hadron Collider, which has two beams that send particles in opposite
directions so they can collide and then produce the results that can be measured by scientist. Last
month CERN set out an experiment to study neutrino interactions in different elements. The results
were shocking.
So what are neutrino? Neutrino are very tiny subatomic particles that are very similar to an
electron, but have no electrical charge and a very small mass, which might even be zero(1).
There are three kinds of neutrino, each kind relates to its own charged particle: an electron
(Ve), a muon (Vµ, an unstable subatomic particle like an electron, but with a mass around 200
times greater), and a tau (Vt , an unstable subatomic particle like an electron, but with a mass
around 3,500 greater than electron). It is one of the most abundant particles in the universe.
Since neutrino don't have a charge they are not affected by electromagnetic forces and are able to
pass through matter very quickly, almost unaffected. They were created from the Big Bang and are now
being created by radiation decay or nuclear reactions that are mostly found in the Sun(3). To give you an
idea of how small they are, by the time you finish reading this paragraph around 10 quintillion ( 10
trillion billions) of them will pass through your body. However, only 1 of those quintillion neutrino will
more than likely interact with an atom in your body(2). Because of how weakly these particles interact
After getting acknowledged with neutrino, lets look at the experiment performed at CERN. In
September of 2011, CERN has performed OPERA experiment (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-
tracking Apparatus). OPERA is a way of detecting tau neutrino from muon neutrino oscillation, which
means that a neutrino can morph between their different flavors (quantum numbers of elementary
particles). The muon neutrino were sourced between French's and Switzerland's border and detected in
Italy. After the computations, it turned out that it took neutrino 60 nanoseconds less than it would
require light to travel the same distance in a vaccum(4). Scientists have calculated a 10 nanoseconds
margin of error, which still doesn't drastically affect the outcome of the experiment(5). CERN has been
checking their experiment for errors and flaws in the past month and encourages others to repeat their
experiment.
The discoveries made by CERN challenge the famous Einstein's special relativity theory( theory
that gives laws of motion for any particle) and E=mc2 formula. Einstein proposed that c, speed of light, is
a constant and is universally the fastest speed, light travels at 168,000 miles per second. Since neutrino,
in this experiment, traveled faster than the speed of light, some of Einstein's theories will be disproven
and the possibility of traveling back into the future will be made possible. If the experiment will be
replicated and verified, it would also mean, that many fundamental formulas that tend to explain the
universe will be rewritten. After month of studying and re-checking the results the scientists at CERN
have no explanation for the results. With results of such magnitude have to be independently verified
The conclusion that we can draw from this is that CERN has found unexpected results using of
the most amazing and precise techniques and instruments in the world. This leaves us with a
doubt that there was an error, but its just mind boggling to think that an entire century of formulas and
laws can be so easily challenged after one experiment. As one of the scientists who studied neutrino
said ''If 100 years ago someone told me the universe was filled with massless charged particles that have
no mass or energy, I would have laughed. Who knows where we'll be in 100 years from now''. I find
these discoveries fascinating, yesterday I had a speech about time traveling and almost every source of
information said that going back in time breaks every known physical and chemical law, with this