
The Data That Threatened to Break Physics - jonbaer
http://nautil.us/issue/24/error/the-data-that-threatened-to-break-physics
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beloch
This is far from the first experiment to produce an earth-shaking result that
was later found to be a mistake. For example, in the 70's there was a fairly
serious search for tachyons (faster than light particles) by many groups using
a variety of means. It was thought that they might precede other particles and
herald the onset of cosmic showers, so several groups set up scintillators to
look for them. One found them and published, only to later find that their
experiment was compromised by an error in circuitry. I wish I could recall the
names involved, but it was probably not a good thing for the careers of those
involved.

The thing that most people don't understand about experimental physics is that
surprises that upset theory are now very rare indeed. The theory makes
predictions, and experiments almost always conform to those predictions.
Experiments are still worth doing because, just as an untestable theory is
worthless, so too is a theory that nobody bothers to try disproving. However,
experiments are like rabbit holes that twist, turn, and branch, frequently
leading to new realizations and insights. Often results seem to contradict
theory, but the answer is usually some unaccounted for quirk that makes all
the difference in the world. Sometimes finding those quirks is far more
important than failing to disprove the theory being tested yet again.

Particle physics is unusual because of the size, complexity, and cost of the
experiments. Errors like the one at OPERA are inevitable. It's unfortunate
that Ereditato felt he had to resign over this particular error. It's almost
the exact opposite of the "too big to fail" effect in finance. Due to the size
of the experiment and the media attention it garnered, any mistake was seen as
evidence of incompetence. Scientists leading such massive projects as this are
inevitably called on to commit seppuku to restore the faith (and funding) of
the powers that be. It's fortunate that Ereditato found a good position
afterwards, but it's a mistake to think OPERA is better off for it.

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raverbashing
Systems are so complex these days that saying "it was a misconnected cable"
doesn't make justice to the dimension and professionalism of the experiments,
and the sensitivity of the equipment.

"Instead, it took this particular receiver 73 nanoseconds to acquire enough
light energy to fire the starting pistol and trigger the electronics; in
effect, the starting pistol was fired 73 nanoseconds after the neutrinos left
the starting line back at CERN."

73ns. Almost 22m at the speed of light.

And you're trying to get that kind of synchronization between things kms
apart.

It's very hard, and sometimes mistakes happen.

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PaulHoule
What's funny about it is that whenever people try to measure the square of the
mass of the neutrino, the peak of the probability distribution is less than
zero, what you'd expect from a tachyon.

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kachnuv_ocasek
Reminds me of a recent SMBC strip: [http://www.smbc-
comics.com/index.php?id=3732](http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=3732)

