Neutrinos: The "Usain Bolt" of Particles

For those of you that aren't track and field fans, Usain Bolt is the fastest man ever in the history of mankind.  So, neutrinos are definitely the "Usain Bolt" of particles......on steriods with jet packs for spikes.   Whether or not you relate to the Usain Bolt analogy, you will probably be interested in neutrinos.

Neutrinos were discovered by scientists at CERN, a supercollider outside of Geneva.  Neutrinos themselves are ghostly particles that travel through nearly everything unimpeded. (Thousands are passing directly through your body as you read this.)   In addition, they claim that the neutrinos are a particle that can travel faster than light, 60 nanoseconds faster than light over a distance of 454 miles (Geneva to Gran Sasso).  A discovery so "impossible" that the scientists thought that something must have been wrong.  They thought their measurements must be wrong or that something had been overlooked or contaminated.

Here's why the scientists were so complexed and why this discovery is so unbelievable.  If the discovery of neutrinos is correct, then everything we know and everything that science teaches about the universe is wrong.

For example, in simple terms, this is what happened in Geneva:  "If the Gran Sasso (end point of the 454 mile journey) scientists had a plate to record the arrival of the neutrinos and a super-powerful telescope to peer (through the Alps!) directly into the lab in Geneva from which they were being fired, the Gran Sasso guys would have “heard” the neutrinos clanging against the plate before they observed the Geneva guys squeeze the trigger on the neutrino gun."  (Washington Post/Charles Krauthammer)

Starting to get the picture?  It means that physics such as Einstein's theory of relativity is fundamentally wrong.  It means that the “standard model” of subatomic particles that stands at the center of all modern physics is wrong.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.  All physics, astronomy, cosmology, and anything that measures time and distance on the assumption of light speed will be useless.  Physics books will all have to be re-written, a new understanding of the past and future and cause and effect will have to re-examined, re-thought, and re-explained.

In a race with Usain Bolt, it seems unfair that the neutrinos would finish before the starting gun was shot.  Yeah, I am still having some trouble comprehending this whole thing also.