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I suspect that there is a deeply hidden statistical experimental analysis error at the bottom of this, most likely due to the precision of complicated system-based determinations of distance and/or timing. There are literally millions of components that together make up this experiment, and the number of possibilities for error is combinatorically gigantic. Although there has been a tremendous amount of "noise" bandied about in the popular media about this claim over the past couple of days, there is, unfortunately, very little correct information being spread around.

The experimental collaboration team who conducted this experiment are solid, well-regarded physicists, and they, themselves, are hoping that others will find their error. If this result is correct, the implications are truly profound, although the comments one has seen in the public media have gotten this almost entirely wrong, with the usual collection of various crackpot interpretations and partial or complete misunderstandings being heard.

The currently accepted basis for explaining the behavior of elementary particles is a very specialized area of physics called quantum field theory (QFT). It is simply impossible to "explain" this briefly in any medium, especially a mainly political blog - even a great political blog such as FR. (The discussion is further complicated by the nutcases who always seems to be drawn to such discussions.) An essential part of QFT is a mathematical structure called "Lorentz invariance." This is a set of mathematical constraints on the form of various mathematical expressions that describe the different elementary particles and their interactions with each other. The bottom line is that this apparent result violates Lorentz invariance. However, ALL of our understanding of QFT goes out the window if it is really correct that Lorentz invariance is not a true mathematical symmetry exhibited in Nature. Yet, there are literally trillions of data points associated to elementary particle dynamics that have been collected over the years that are all consistent with Lorentz invariance.

A gigantic puzzle will thus emerge if the claimed result proves to be correct. Contrary to some of the unhinged and/or ignorant who write about this, there is no reluctance on the part of working physicists to consider new, even radically new, ideas that challenge our understanding. The main issue is that this result simply doesn't make sense based on the huge number of other facts that we know are true based on other measurements that have been massively replicated.

The next step is to independently replicate these results, as required by the scientific method.

A last comment: non-physicists will probably mostly not know this, but there was an almost as strange, apparently incongruous experimental result in particle physics that came out in the 1970s called the “high-Y” anomaly (“Y” is a certain physical quantity). The measurement gave values that seemed to contradict a huge part of particle physics understanding, although that result didn’t generate the public noise that this claimed result has. After a lot of confusion in the particle physics community, the “high-Y” anomaly result was discovered to be due to an experimental error.

I agree with you. I have been following the seminar at the link and they give good answers to the questions but I am sure that it is an error. I find it very hard to skip Lorenz invariance.

Actually we have during the years here at FR been discussing QFT, QCD etc. Some of the freepers have been there, done that.

Are you Sheldon?

Looks like the speed of light idol is on shaky ground as well! Alamo Girl do you get a sense God is getting rid of all idols in these last days? Everything we put our faith in other than The Lord Jesus Christ, is crashing and burning.

Romans 1:25 (ESV) 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.