10 Effects of Faster-Than-Light Discovery ›

10. Evolution of the Early Universe

Credit: David A. Aguilar/Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Many other aspects of astronomy could also stand to be affected if the new discovery holds. Some important ideas about the history of the universe, in fact, are based on neutrino measurements and theories.

“Neutrinos are abundant in the early universe and if they behave differently, this affects calculations of the evolution of the early universe, nucleosynthesis and the seeds of structure formation,” astronomer Derek Fox of Pennsylvania State University wrote in an email to LiveScience.

Furthermore, neutrinos are produced in the fusion reactions that power stars, so if these particles behave differently than thought, star models may need to be revised. (Above, an artist’s conception of the history of the cosmos.)

Source: LiveScience