Particles appear to travel faster than light: OPERA experiment reports anomaly in flight time of neutrinos

ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2011) — Scientists with the OPERA experiment, which observes a neutrino beam from CERN 730 km away at Italy's INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory, are presenting surprising new results (in a seminar at CERN on Sept. 23, 2011) that appear to show neutrinos traveling faster than light.

The OPERA result is based on the observation of over 15000 neutrino events measured at Gran Sasso, and appears to indicate that the neutrinos travel at a velocity 20 parts per million above the speed of light, nature's cosmic speed limit. Given the potential far-reaching consequences of such a result, independent measurements are needed before the effect can either be refuted or firmly established. This is why the OPERA collaboration has decided to open the result to broader scrutiny. The collaboration's result is available on the preprint server arXiv (http://arxiv.org/list/hep-ex/new).

"This result comes as a complete surprise," said OPERA spokesperson, Antonio Ereditato of the University of Bern. "After many months of studies and cross checks we have not found any instrumental effect that could explain the result of the measurement. While OPERA researchers will continue their studies, we are also looking forward to independent measurements to fully assess the nature of this observation."

"When an experiment finds an apparently unbelievable result and can find no artefact of the measurement to account for it, it's normal procedure to invite broader scrutiny, and this is exactly what the OPERA collaboration is doing, it's good scientific practice," said CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci. "If this measurement is confirmed, it might change our view of physics, but we need to be sure that there are no other, more mundane, explanations. That will require independent measurements."

In order to perform this study, the OPERA Collaboration teamed up with experts in metrology from CERN and other institutions to perform a series of high precision measurements of the distance between the source and the detector, and of the neutrinos' time of flight. The distance between the origin of the neutrino beam and OPERA was measured with an uncertainty of 20 cm over the 730 km travel path. The neutrinos' time of flight was determined with an accuracy of less than 10 nanoseconds by using sophisticated instruments including advanced GPS systems and atomic clocks. The time response of all elements of the CNGS beam line and of the OPERA detector has also been measured with great precision.

"We have established synchronization between CERN and Gran Sasso that gives us nanosecond accuracy, and we've measured the distance between the two sites to 20 centimetres," said Dario Autiero, the CNRS researcher who will give this afternoon's seminar. "Although our measurements have low systematic uncertainty and high statistical accuracy, and we place great confidence in our results, we're looking forward to comparing them with those from other experiments."

"The potential impact on science is too large to draw immediate conclusions or attempt physics interpretations. My first reaction is that the neutrino is still surprising us with its mysteries." said Ereditato. "Today's seminar is intended to invite scrutiny from the broader particle physics community."

The OPERA experiment was inaugurated in 2006, with the main goal of studying the rare transformation (oscillation) of muon neutrinos into tau neutrinos. One first such event was observed in 2010, proving the unique ability of the experiment in the detection of the elusive signal of tau neutrinos.

The seminar will be webcast at http://webcast.cern.ch.

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare.

Journal Reference:

OPERA. Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam. arXiv.org, 2011; [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Particles appear to travel faster than light: OPERA experiment reports anomaly in flight time of neutrinos

ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2011) — Scientists with the OPERA experiment, which observes a neutrino beam from CERN 730 km away at Italy's INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory, are presenting surprising new results (in a seminar at CERN on Sept. 23, 2011) that appear to show neutrinos traveling faster than light.

The OPERA result is based on the observation of over 15000 neutrino events measured at Gran Sasso, and appears to indicate that the neutrinos travel at a velocity 20 parts per million above the speed of light, nature's cosmic speed limit. Given the potential far-reaching consequences of such a result, independent measurements are needed before the effect can either be refuted or firmly established. This is why the OPERA collaboration has decided to open the result to broader scrutiny. The collaboration's result is available on the preprint server arXiv (http://arxiv.org/list/hep-ex/new).

"This result comes as a complete surprise," said OPERA spokesperson, Antonio Ereditato of the University of Bern. "After many months of studies and cross checks we have not found any instrumental effect that could explain the result of the measurement. While OPERA researchers will continue their studies, we are also looking forward to independent measurements to fully assess the nature of this observation."

"When an experiment finds an apparently unbelievable result and can find no artefact of the measurement to account for it, it's normal procedure to invite broader scrutiny, and this is exactly what the OPERA collaboration is doing, it's good scientific practice," said CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci. "If this measurement is confirmed, it might change our view of physics, but we need to be sure that there are no other, more mundane, explanations. That will require independent measurements."

In order to perform this study, the OPERA Collaboration teamed up with experts in metrology from CERN and other institutions to perform a series of high precision measurements of the distance between the source and the detector, and of the neutrinos' time of flight. The distance between the origin of the neutrino beam and OPERA was measured with an uncertainty of 20 cm over the 730 km travel path. The neutrinos' time of flight was determined with an accuracy of less than 10 nanoseconds by using sophisticated instruments including advanced GPS systems and atomic clocks. The time response of all elements of the CNGS beam line and of the OPERA detector has also been measured with great precision.

"We have established synchronization between CERN and Gran Sasso that gives us nanosecond accuracy, and we've measured the distance between the two sites to 20 centimetres," said Dario Autiero, the CNRS researcher who will give this afternoon's seminar. "Although our measurements have low systematic uncertainty and high statistical accuracy, and we place great confidence in our results, we're looking forward to comparing them with those from other experiments."

"The potential impact on science is too large to draw immediate conclusions or attempt physics interpretations. My first reaction is that the neutrino is still surprising us with its mysteries." said Ereditato. "Today's seminar is intended to invite scrutiny from the broader particle physics community."

The OPERA experiment was inaugurated in 2006, with the main goal of studying the rare transformation (oscillation) of muon neutrinos into tau neutrinos. One first such event was observed in 2010, proving the unique ability of the experiment in the detection of the elusive signal of tau neutrinos.

The seminar will be webcast at http://webcast.cern.ch.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare.

Journal Reference:

OPERA. Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam. arXiv.org, 2011; [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

Revolution in wound care? Cotton candy-like glass fibers appear to speed healing in initial venous stasis wound trial

ScienceDaily (May 3, 2011) — Imagine a battlefield medic or emergency medical technician providing first aid with a special wad of cottony glass fibers that simultaneously slows bleeding, fights bacteria (and other sources of infection), stimulates the body's natural healing mechanisms, resists scarring, and-because it is quickly absorbed by surrounding tissue -- may never have to be removed in follow-up care.

Or, imagine diabetics with hard-to-heal wounds finding a source of relief from the battle against infections and limb amputation.

Those scenarios are the hope of the developers of a revolutionary borate glass nanofiber material, which appears have sped and helped the final of healing long-term wounds in eight out of 12 venous stasis wound sufferers in a recent clinical trial held at a medical center in Rolla, Mo.

Details about the trials and the glass fiber material were published in the May issue of the American Ceramic Society's Bulletin magazine.

The story reports on the discovery of the fibers and on an empirical study that began late in the fall of 2010 supervised by the internal review board of the Phelps County Regional Medical Center. The trial groups originally had 13 volunteer members, but one dropped out during the early stages.

According to Peggy Taylor, the PCRMC registered nurse who administered the treatments, all of the volunteers in the trial are enthusiastic about the use of the glass fiber product, which she says "looks like cotton candy."

"All of the participants had diabetes and several of them had wounds that had been unhealed for more than a year," says Taylor, a specialist in wound care. "One patient had the same wound for three years. After using the glass fiber product for a few months, we were able to repair the skin in eight of the patients. Remarkably, the other four have made a lot of progress and all of their wounds should be healed soon, too."

All of the patients suffered from problems associated with venous stasis, a condition where blood circulation in extremities is poor. As the blood pools, typically in lower legs, fluids accumulate causing unusual pressure on skin tissues. Sores and wounds can then develop when the fluid "weeps" from skin cracks, cuts or abrasions.

Because of an enzyme in the weeping fluid, the skin surrounding small venous stasis injuries can quickly erode and turn into large and deep wounds. Even small bruises can eventually develop into bone-deep openings.

The goal of the PCRMC trial was to provide an initial evaluation of the effects of the novel fibrous glass material produced by the Mo-Sci Corporation, a Rolla company already known for creating glass-based materials for medical applications.

"Bioglass" materials aren't particularly new to the medical field, but thus far all bioglass has been formed from a silica-based glass composition, and these primarily have been used in hard-tissue regeneration, such as bone repair.

Glass scientist Steve Jung, who helped develop the new material, says he and co-developer Delbert Day had wondered whether a different type of bioactive glass material could be used for soft-tissue regeneration. "We felt from our in-vitro studies that bioactive glasses containing boron would react to body fluids much faster than silicate glasses," says Jung, who obtained his Ph.D from Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he conducted his research with Day, a professor at the university. "We also knew that an in-vitro study of lithium borate glasses had showed it to have beneficial effects against bacteria, such as E. coli, salmonella and staphylococcus microbes."

Lastly, Jung and Day recall they were interested in a composition that was rich in calcium. "Previously, investigators have reported that calcium is important for wound healing. It appears to assist the migration of epidermal cells and help the body regulate the healing process of open wounds," says Jung.

Besides composition, Jung and Day thought the structure of the material may be important to consider, too, and suspected that providing a healing "scaffold" might be beneficial. "We thought it might be advantageous to have a material that could mimic the microstructure of fibrin that forms the basis of a blood clot. We reasoned that if the structure could imitate fibrin, it might trap blood platelets and allow the formation of a wound cover that could support the healing process."

Jung and Day finally settled on a particular borate glass composition -- called 13-93B3 glass -- one that Mo-Sci, a company founded by Day, already knew how to form into cottony glass fibers, 300 nanometers to 5 micrometers in diameter.

After animal tests showed no adverse effects, Mo-Sci obtained a license to the material from Missouri S&T, named the borate glass material "DermaFuse," and approached PCRMC about starting the small-scale human test.

PCRMC approved the trial in July 2010, and nurse Taylor saw her first patient one month later. Once the study was underway, the company provided Taylor with individual, foil-sealed packets containing pads made of the glass fibers. She says the material is easy to apply. "It gets kind of squished in the packs, but you can form it, pick it, make it into any kind of shape you need out of it. I used tweezers to pack the material up into all of the recesses before filling the rest of the wound. I didn't pack it hard, but enough to fill all the crevices. Once it was in place, I covered it with a secondary covering or compression wrap." One thing that surprised Taylor was that the glass fibers seem to disappear over time, a phenomenon that has been observed with other bioglasses. "Does it dissolve? Does it become part of the tissue? We don't quite know, but it is just such a neat thing to watch that process."

Taylor acknowledges that under her care, the wounds would have probably healed without the glass material, but they would have required expensive vacuum-assisted healing systems that must be carried by patient at all times.

Besides low cost and ease of use, Taylor says the glass fibers seem to offer another stunning benefit: low scarring. "All but one of the patients in the trial were elderly and had a lot of skin discoloration, but we healed wounds that show nothing or negligible scarring," she says.

Jung, who now works as a senior researcher for Mo-Sci, says that the next step is expanded human trials, which will be conducted in partnership with the Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He says the center has agreed to begin testing the material this summer. In the meantime, Jung says he and Day are optimistic about a new era in wound treatment. "We are really hoping the properties of these fibers can help with more extensive wounds, such as burns, and we easily foresee the day when soldiers or EMT workers carry packets of these glass fibers to provide healing protective covers that don't have to be removed."

The story, "Cotton candy that heals? Borate glass fibers look promising", is available online at http://americanceramicsociety.org/bulletin/2011_pdf_files/may_11/#/27/

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by The American Ceramic Society.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here