Two scientists at the head of the European physics team that first recorded particles traveling seemingly faster than the speed of light in 2011 have resigned, Nature reported on Friday.
The resignations of Antonio Ereditato and Dario Autiero came just two weeks after another experiment by their parent institution, CERN, found that the faster-than-light result was likely wrong and the particles were traveling near the speed of light, but not above it. Prior to that CERN confirmed that errors could have lead to the incredible measurement, including a loose cable.
Autiero told Nature he and Ereditato were “concerned about the existence of a large split,” in their team and thought a leadership change was in order.
Autiero “denied that he was stepping down because of mistakes in the measurement, saying that the discovery of an unknown systematic error is an inevitable hazard for any scientist doing a precision measurement,” Nature reported.
(H/T: Wired)
