Hitches blamed over CERN's 'faster-than-light' claim.

[Janx]

While comic, no, it isn't that simple. By reports I've read, this isn't a, "Well, duh! If you'd had your head out of your over-educated butt, you'd have seen this," kind of issue.

We are talking about timing events over hundreds of miles, with time differences in small fractions of seconds. Transmission times matter, and clock ticks in oscillators matter, to levels of precision that your standard cable guy can't begin to approach.

true enough. most cable guys don't know the proper bend radius tolerance for Cat5, let alone WHY it matters in layman's terms, let alone the science behind twisting pairs of wire to reduce interference.

Figuring out how to do the time measurement itself is more complicated than meeting at a swiss coffee shop and synchronizing your Timexes then going to your respective ends of the pipe

 

[Janx]

No worries - I felt a need to mention it, simply because I run across too much anti-intellectualism / anti-expert sentiment in real life. Not that you would think that way, but some reader out there might take you seriously.

Apparently, this philosophy is called GAS (Government and Academics are Stupid).

I suspect that it's tied to the phenomenon where ignorant people think they are more knowledgable about a topic than experts.

 

[El Mahdi]

Damn! That's kind of harsh, dude...

I think people were just trying to make a joke about it. Even rocket scientists should be able to take a little ribbing now and then...

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Damn! That's kind of harsh, dude...

I think people were just trying to make a joke about it. Even rocket scientists should be able to take a little ribbing now and then...

Meh. Rocket Science is overrated anyway. An iPhone has more computing power than the Apollo 11!

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[jonesy]

Meh. Rocket Science is overrated anyway. An iPhone has more computing power than the Apollo 11!

Last time I checked iPhones didn't have rockets in them. But I've never actually owned one, so maybe they do now.

 

[El Mahdi]

My iPhone works as a remote for my jet pack.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Apparently, this philosophy is called GAS (Government and Academics are Stupid).

In music, that acronym refers to Guitar/Gear Acquisition Syndrome- the insatiable desire to have MOAR!

 

[LightPhoenix]

Was this actually proven to be the cause? My understanding is that this was a hypothesis put forth in a paper with no actual testing done. I know several labs are repeating the initial experiment, and we won't know for certain until then. However, it seems people are really quick to assume the "bad connection" hypothesis is correct without any basis in testing.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Was this actually proven to be the cause? My understanding is that this was a hypothesis put forth in a paper with no actual testing done. I know several labs are repeating the initial experiment, and we won't know for certain until then. However, it seems people are really quick to assume the "bad connection" hypothesis is correct without any basis in testing.

I have a feeling that the "bad connection" hypothesis took on a life of its own regardless of the facts either way. (And on ENWorld it most certainly did)

And speaking of bad connections - My TI35 had more processing power than the Apollo 11 too, but this doesn't mean rocket science isn't extensive. Remember all the technology for both products (TI calculators and iPhones) was born of miniaturization, a vital part of the "rocket science" industry.

Well that and Tang.

 

[Thunderfoot]

I myself have eaten both hogs and bison!

*Homer Simpson voice* mmmmmm hogs and bison, alalalalalagggghhhh */Homer Simpson voice*