Since the news of “light barrier-breaking neutrinos” hit the blogosphere, physicists are in a confused uproar of disbelief, excitement and imagination. The Opera experiment at CERN reported that neutrinos were found to travel faster than the speed of light, negating Einstein when he said “nothing can travel faster than light”. While all physicists are critical of the data, pointing out possible error stages in calculation, there are very few that rule it out completely and most demand more evidence through experimentation. Famous star-physicist Brian Cox explained on BBC that one of the possibilities enabling neutrinos to overtake light, would be if they jumped through different dimensions, effectively taking a short cut. Some theorists and sci-fi lovers are exclaiming that understanding transit across dimensions can increase our chances of time-travel.
MRI vertigo explained
Patients have complained of vertigo sensation felt in the latest high-strength MRI machines. New research investigating this has suggested that magnetic impulses used in these machines are so strong that they move the fluid in our inner ears. Flow of this fluid is associated with our body’s ability to sense motion and maintain physical balance. Researchers concluded that the vertigo in the machine was a result of ‘interplay between electrical currents flowing through the salty fluid in the canals of the (inner ear) and MRI’s magnetic field.’ This effect, although uncomfortable, is not particularly dangerous.
Israel joins CERN
The nation has become the twenty-first, and the first non-European, member of CERN, the leading particle physics lab that houses the LHC. Progressing from ‘observer state’, it is now ‘associate member’ and is hoping to acquire full membership in due time. It will participate financially towards CERN’s annual budget and have council voting privileges. Israeli physicists have been working at CERN for decades and overtime, have also brought 10 Palestinian graduate students on board, according to Science.
Dead sea is alive
On a difficult dive to the bottom of the Dead Sea, a German-Israeli team has discovered a series of deep, fresh water springs with new types of microbes thriving in the unlikely environment around them.
The hypersalinity of the lake makes it very difficult for common flora and fauna to survive. However, this discovery has made it very clear that the inappropriately named Dead Sea is not dead, but infact, very active both physically and biologically. The microbial life in the water and sediment samples collected on the dive has been recognised as a rich mix of phototrophic (making their own food using sunlight) and mineralising organisms. The team claims that their expedition is the first one to retrieve microbial mats from the Dead Sea. A follow-up dive has been scheduled for next month.