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Faster-than-light neutrinos are back in the game
Back in September, CERN dropped the improbable news about its faster-than-light neutrinos, causing eggheads worldwide to cry foul. Understandable really, as if true, a lot of what we think we know about the universe essentially falls apart. So, expect severe bouts of head-scratching once more, as a second round of experiments from the same OPERA collaborative has reported similar results. The initial experiments used a long chain of neutrinos, fired from point A to B. Skeptics claimed that this might have introduced an element of uncertainty to the results -- the new tests used much shorter blasts, meaning that if they arrived just as quickly, then this potential cause for error is scratched out. The new data still needs to undergo the usual peer review, and other possible causes for error remain. For now though, it looks like one of the main arguments against has been addressed, making the Einstein-challenging neutrinos one step closer (or is that ahead?) to re-writing the rule book.
Remember those faster-than-light neutrinos? Great, now forget 'em
A week ago the world went wild over CERN's tentative claim that it could make neutrinos travel faster than light. Suddenly, intergalactic tourism and day trips to the real Jurassic Park were back on the menu, despite everything Einstein said. Now, however, a team of scientists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands reckons it's come up with a more plausible (and disappointing) explanation of what happened: the GPS satellites used to measure the departure and arrival times of the racing neutrinos were themselves subject to Einsteinian effects, because they were in motion relative to the experiment. This relative motion wasn't properly taken into account, but it would have decreased the neutrinos' apparent journey time. The Dutch scientists calculated the error and came up with the 64 nanoseconds. Sound familiar? That's because it's almost exactly the margin by which CERN's neutrinos were supposed to have beaten light. So, it's Monday morning, Alpha Centauri and medieval jousting tournaments remain as out of reach as ever, and we just thought we'd let you know.
Northwestern University researchers route photon qubit, make quantum internet possible
Big brains across the globe continue to unlock the secrets of the qubit and harness it for myriad uses -- quantum hard drives, quantum computers, and even quantum refrigerators. The internet may be next in line to get quantum-ized now that researchers from Northwestern University found a way to route a photon qubit through an optical cable without losing any of its physical characteristics. A newly developed optical switch does the deed, which allows fiber-optic cables to share multiple users' quantum info at once -- making superfast all-optical quantum communication networks possible -- and gets us closer to having our tweets and status updates whizzing to and fro at the speed of light. [Thanks, Jonathan C]
All-optical quantum communication networks nearly realized, 'Answers to Life' airing at 9PM
Ready to get swept away into the wild, wild abyss known as quantum computing? If not, we're certain there's a less mentally taxing post above or below, but for those who answered the call, researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz have a doozie to share. A team of whiz kids at the institution have developed a minuscule optical device that's built into a silicon chip, and it's capable of reducing the speed of light by a factor of 1,200. If you're wondering why on Earth humans would be interested in doing such a thing, here's the long and short of it: the ability to control light pulses on an integrated chip-based platform "is a major step toward the realization of all-optical quantum communication networks, with potentially vast improvements in ultra-low-power performance." Today, data transmitted along optical fibers must still eventually be converted to electronic signals before they're finally understood, but the promise of an all-optical data processing system could obviously reduce inefficiencies and create communication networks that are far quicker and more robust. There's still no telling how far we are from this becoming a reality -- after all, we've been hearing similar since at least 2006 -- but at least these folks seem to be onto something good... even if it's all too familiar.
Bae Institute crafts magical photonic laser thruster
Now that humans have shot themselves up into space, frolicked on the moon, and have their own space station just chillin' in the middle of the galaxy, what's really left to accomplish out there? How about cruising around at light speed? Apparently, a boastful group of scientists at the Bae Institute in Southern California feel that they're one step closer to achieving the impossible, as the "world's first photonic laser thruster" was purportedly demonstrated. Using a photonic laser and a sophisticated photon beam amplification system, Dr. Bae reportedly "demonstrated that photonic energy could generate amplified thrust between two spacecraft by bouncing photons many thousands of times between them." The Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT) was constructed with off-the-shelf parts and a bit of fairy dust, and it's said that this invention could eliminate the need for "other propellants" on a wide range of NASA spacecrafts, theoretically savings millions on energy costs and enabling longer missions. So while this may be an incredibly novel idea, the chances of this actually working outside of a laboratory seem relatively small, and make sure we're not the guinea pigs strapped into the first craft that utilizes this mystical method of launching, cool?[Via Wired]
