Travelling Faster than Light - The Neutrinos SAGA

One of the most exciting physics stories of 2011 was the announcement in September that an experiment in Italy had observed neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light. If true, this would directly contradict one of the cornerstone predictions of relativity. A comprehensive review of modern physics would be needed.

The data comes from a 1,300 metric ton particle detector called the Oscillation Project with Emulsion Racking Apparatus (OPERA). OPERA, located in Italy's Gran Sasso National Laboratory, detects neutrinos fired from CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. Because the particles barely interact with other materials, they flow directly through the ground, and very few hit the material in the detector and cause an appreciable particle shower.