Dear cern
Páginas: 3 (539 palabras)
Publicado: 25 de marzo de 2012
Dear CERN: Always Check the Cable Before Doubting Einstein
Please check your cables before questioning me!
The initial news was shocking: CERN, the European atom-smasher, had found evidencethat atomic particles could travel faster than the speed of light!
The news shot around the world at, yes, the speed of light, with scientists talking about the possible death of Einstein’s GeneralTheory of Relativity. CERN did insert a caveat: More tests were needed to confirm the finding.
And now we know the sad truth: Neutrinos don’t travel faster than 186,000-miles-per-second, or if theydo, CERN can’t prove it. Indeed, physics was almost upended by a loose fiber optic cable used to connect a GPS receiver to a CERN computer, Reuters reports.
Turns out the problem was one familiarto everyone who works with communications or computing hardware: a loose cable.
In this case, one that connected a GPS to a computer to provide accurate time for the experiment. Once the bad cablewas factored-out, neutrinos slowed down and Einstein was redeemed.
One of the first lessons I learned in computers — and I learned it the hard way and repeatedly — is the problem is always a cableuntil proven otherwise. Home entertainment installers also know this truth. Likewise all my ham radio buddies.
Symptoms relieved
Computer won’t turn on? That’s an unplugged power cable. Can’tplay music? Speaker cable. Something doesn’t hear? Mic or line-in cable.
No display? The video cable or maybe the display power cable. No network? That’s the Ethernet cable. All of these can beaccidentally or intentionally pulled out.
Some cables will fail over time. Works one day, dead the next.
Sometimes the cable isn’t really what you think it is — the wires don’t lead where you expect— and the cable doesn’t work because it’s the wrong cable. This is especially true with new cables that you’ve never seen work before.
Sometimes the pins in the connector become bent or broken —...
Please check your cables before questioning me!
The initial news was shocking: CERN, the European atom-smasher, had found evidencethat atomic particles could travel faster than the speed of light!
The news shot around the world at, yes, the speed of light, with scientists talking about the possible death of Einstein’s GeneralTheory of Relativity. CERN did insert a caveat: More tests were needed to confirm the finding.
And now we know the sad truth: Neutrinos don’t travel faster than 186,000-miles-per-second, or if theydo, CERN can’t prove it. Indeed, physics was almost upended by a loose fiber optic cable used to connect a GPS receiver to a CERN computer, Reuters reports.
Turns out the problem was one familiarto everyone who works with communications or computing hardware: a loose cable.
In this case, one that connected a GPS to a computer to provide accurate time for the experiment. Once the bad cablewas factored-out, neutrinos slowed down and Einstein was redeemed.
One of the first lessons I learned in computers — and I learned it the hard way and repeatedly — is the problem is always a cableuntil proven otherwise. Home entertainment installers also know this truth. Likewise all my ham radio buddies.
Symptoms relieved
Computer won’t turn on? That’s an unplugged power cable. Can’tplay music? Speaker cable. Something doesn’t hear? Mic or line-in cable.
No display? The video cable or maybe the display power cable. No network? That’s the Ethernet cable. All of these can beaccidentally or intentionally pulled out.
Some cables will fail over time. Works one day, dead the next.
Sometimes the cable isn’t really what you think it is — the wires don’t lead where you expect— and the cable doesn’t work because it’s the wrong cable. This is especially true with new cables that you’ve never seen work before.
Sometimes the pins in the connector become bent or broken —...
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