Einstein wins: Debunking the 'faster-than-light' neutrinos

Light is once again the speediest thing in the known universe. Last September, OPERA, a project organized by an international group of physicists, boldly proclaimed that it had clocked some neutrinos, sub-atomic particles, moving faster than light. It was a shocking result, since Albert Einstein's longstanding theory of relativity says that nothing is faster than light. Well, it turns out Einstein was right all along. Late Wednesday, Science Insider broke the news that OPERA's experiment was flawed — its results compromised by a faulty connection between a GPS receiver and a computer. Indulging in schadenfreude, critics are scoffing at the respected scientists' screw-up. Here, a sampling of the reaction:

Thank God

This "distinctly ordinary" error is certainly convenient, says Tom Chivers at Britain's Telegraph. We no longer need to rewrite "the laws of the universe."

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The first commandment

As a bunch of brainy scientists should know, says David Coursey at Forbes, you "always check the cable before doubting Einstein." The "problem is always a cable until proven otherwise. Home entertainment installers also know this truth. Likewise, all my ham radio buddies."

It could happen to anyone

Physicists supposedly checked and rechecked their results last year before announcing their "puzzling observations," says Robert T. Gonzalez at io9. But then, "fatal flaws" do have a tendency to hide in plain sight.

Whew!

Thank goodness we know longer need to question "our very basic idea of physics," says Eyder Peralta at NPR. In a manner of speaking, the original results suggested "you could be shot before a bullet left a gun."

My hero

Indeed, "the universe as we know it was saved today," says Jeffrey Kluger at TIME. "The instrument of its salvation, and that of the very edifice of physics itself? A fiber optic cable." Hallelujah!