Man oh man, CERN does it again. In this article the physics lab announces that they confirmed their earlier finding of faster-than-light neutrinos.
If this finding is again confirmed by new and independent experiments it implies an enormous paradigm shift in our understanding of the universe. Nothing goes faster then light, and if something seems to outspeed c* it's a flaw in either measurement or understanding. Ineffable c is the limit, period, or so we thought.
The scientists involved are commendably cautious in their refusal to speculate on the cause of this spectacular result. It will require a lot more testing by different people in different facilities to underpin this revolutionary outcome. Then, and only then, can we safely assume that our standard model is broken, special relativity is fatally flawed, and we do not begin to understand our universe to the degree we thought we did even three months ago.
Exiting times! Had I the funds and the time I'd go back to university in an instant to study physics. It has not been this cool and exiting since Feynmann taught at Caltech. I hope the find is verified. FTL FTW!
* c denotes the speed of light in a vacuum, 2.998×10^8 meters per second.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Worms
Having an Apple computer was once a rare and nerdy distinction. Nowadays it firmly pegs one as an average wealthy consumer, much the same way as a family car and a nice suburban home might. Pity.
There's only one way from the top and it is inevitable that Apple-tiredness sets in. My moment came last weekend, when deciding between a new Mac to replace my 5 year old MacBook or buying new furniture, and I decided to spend on the latter.
Even a year ago this would have been unthinkable. Regularly mocked as a fanboy in the days of the PPC processors, my love for Apple computers is a well known trait. What happened?
Seeing a Chromebook in action. It's not its extremely bad video performance, nor its very limited offline usability. It's not its cheap, plastic look and feel either. What uttely charmed me about the Chromebook is its edgy 1.0-ness. The fact that few people who are not serious webheads would consider using one regulary. The fact that it's new, niche and not a Mac.
I still love my iPad, and I will continue to use my old and trusty MacBook until it's good and dead. However, I doubt that the latest and greatest from Cupertino will be as utterly compelling to me as once it was. With mass adoption of Apple devices and the death of Steve, Apple has somehow lost the savvy edge. Maybe I just woke up from deep reality distortion field hypnosis. I don't know.
Either way, I'm in the market for something with a Penguin or a Pokeball. Apple has to do a really convincing job with its rumored 15 inch Air to tempt me back to the Mac.
There's only one way from the top and it is inevitable that Apple-tiredness sets in. My moment came last weekend, when deciding between a new Mac to replace my 5 year old MacBook or buying new furniture, and I decided to spend on the latter.
Even a year ago this would have been unthinkable. Regularly mocked as a fanboy in the days of the PPC processors, my love for Apple computers is a well known trait. What happened?
Seeing a Chromebook in action. It's not its extremely bad video performance, nor its very limited offline usability. It's not its cheap, plastic look and feel either. What uttely charmed me about the Chromebook is its edgy 1.0-ness. The fact that few people who are not serious webheads would consider using one regulary. The fact that it's new, niche and not a Mac.
I still love my iPad, and I will continue to use my old and trusty MacBook until it's good and dead. However, I doubt that the latest and greatest from Cupertino will be as utterly compelling to me as once it was. With mass adoption of Apple devices and the death of Steve, Apple has somehow lost the savvy edge. Maybe I just woke up from deep reality distortion field hypnosis. I don't know.
Either way, I'm in the market for something with a Penguin or a Pokeball. Apple has to do a really convincing job with its rumored 15 inch Air to tempt me back to the Mac.
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