Faster Than the Speed of Light
Einstein’s theory busted
On the 23rd September of this year researchers at the Swiss CERN main particle-physics laboratory made a remarkable discovery. Since Einstein’s theory of relatively has been a benchmark for physics research for many years, but now seems to be brought into question (Economist 2011).
Particles known as neutrinos were run in the CERN particle accelerator to see how fast they moved; expectations that they would be measured against the fastest particle previously measured that being light.
Light, or the speed of it if you recall, is at the core of Einstein’s theory. So if anything or anyone is travelling closer than the speed of light, time would slow down, (the relatively part), until finally reaching that speed where time would stop. This is so fast in natural terms it’s hard for us to comprehend--299,792,458km/h.
However, turns out that’s not true. Our miniature neutrinos are a little quicker, 300,006 kilometers per second in fact, and guess what? Despite beating light out in this race around Geneva, time did not stop.
Heads are now exploding in the world of physics as the implications for this are large in the natural world. Many assumptions have been based on this theory being true are now busted open.
The more the wonder of the natural world is exposed, the less it appears we know. Or even the basis of what we know is limited by one little discovery after another.
It’s interesting that we often follow the prognostications of our brilliant forefathers whether scientists or thinkers. They however, seem to understand the limitations of themselves as man. Einstein was a brilliant thinker, but also humble . Aquinas said that all his work was just so much straw. Merton would have withdrawn his bestselling book Seven Storey Mountain if he had his way later in life (Scourby 2004). All these men wanted to offer the best they could, but knew that knowledge was a moving target, and theories or philosophies would be superseded and disproved and improved over time. Such is God’s gradual revelation to us of his beauty and love for us.
So what’s does this discovery mean for us in the study of God and our journey towards him.
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