In September 2011, scientists at the LNGS laboratory in Gran Sasso, Italy, couldn't believe their eyes. They might have found evidence that very small particles moved faster than the light. In this experiment, neutrinos - sub-atomic particles without charge and negligible mass - were fired from CERN, Switzerland to a large underground detector in Gran Sasso, Italy. These particles can travel the entire distance without delay through the earth.
The news shook Einstein's foundation of modern physics, which is based on the premise that nothing can move faster than light. Scientists were amazed, some went crazy, but others remained skeptical. In the end, the skeptics were right: six months later, the erroneous results turned out to be due to a loose cable from a GPS receiver.
As a result of this news, visual artist and filmmaker Mels van Zutphen, fascinated by science and technology, decided to make a slightly ironic statement. He followed the path of the neutrinos from CERN to Gran Sasso by car, taking XNUMX days. A neutrino travels the same distance in a fraction of a second.
Inspired by the scale and speed of the smallest particles in our universe, Van Zutphen made a short film: the accompanying publication contains a log of his journey, background information about the OPERA neutrino experiment, a detailed map of the area, showing the routes traveled of both the neutrinos and the artist are featured, and an exclusive link to the film. In 2013 Mels van Zutphen received an R&D contribution for this project.
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