MIT Physics News Spotlight

Albert EinsteinDavid Kaiser
Left: Albert Einstein (WikiMedia Commons).
Right: David Kaiser, MIT Physics Senior Lecturer

Swiss Scientists Challenge Einstein's Law of Relativity

MIT alum cited for studying the universe’s expansion.

September 23, 2011

Einstein's Law of Relativity is one of the few scientific equations most people know — and it's a pillar of modern physics and fundamental to the way that the universe works. The equation states that nothing is faster than the speed of light, but one of the world's foremost laboratories says they've found subatomic particles called neutrinos that travel even faster. If their findings are proven true, it may alter our understanding of the universe.

David Kaiser, physics and history of science professor at MIT and author of "How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival," and Brian Greene, professor of physics at Columbia University and author of "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory," explain what, if anything, these findings mean.