# Inaccurate science story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 1999, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227 "1999-09-13T18:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RavingMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@RavingMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RavingMad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 1999, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/1 "1999-09-13T18:25:00Z")
I was reading a story in the _Washington Post_ this morning on Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and came across this line: > [@](#): > > Two beams of those nuclei will scream around a 2.4-mile ring in opposite directions at 99.95 times the speed of light. At impact, conditions will resemble what the universe was like in the first few microseconds of its existence after the Big Bang… - Curt Suplee, _Washington Post_ Did the author really mean to write that? Are nuclei really moving at 99.95 _times_ the speed of light? Or did the reporter mean to say 99.95 _percent_ the speed of light? If it’s the former, I guess I’m fundamentally confused about physics. ## If anyone’s interested, the story can be found at [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/feed/a53037-1999sep13.htm](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/feed/a53037-1999sep13.htm) ~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~ ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 1999, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/2 "1999-09-13T18:32:00Z")
Yes, it sounds to me like your correspondent got it wrong. Accelerators routinely produce particle speeds approaching the speed of light but this sounds like warp 2 or something. (“Scotty! I need more power!”) * * * “non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem” – William of Ockham ---
**Author:** ![AuraSeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 1999, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/3 "1999-09-13T19:31:00Z")
I agree. The correct number could be written as 99.95 _percent_ of c, or 0.9995 _times_ c, but someone got his wires crossed. * * * 3x10^8 cm/s. It’s not just a good idea… it’s the LAW! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 1999, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/4 "1999-09-13T20:56:00Z")
A recent Analog SF magazine tongue-in-cheekedly suggested that a good way to develop FTL drive would be to make 186,282 MPS the speed limit on some stretch of highway, because somebody would be certain to exceed it!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 1999, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/5 "1999-09-13T22:07:00Z")
If it’s going anything above 1.0c, it’s a tachyon, and theoretical. The tachyon has not yet been discovered, except in science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Undead\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 1999, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/6 "1999-09-14T03:05:00Z")
> [@](#): > > The tachyon has not yet been discovered, except in science fiction. – Sofa King And by its very nature, we could never discover it (because it would not be able to interact with subluminal particles). Thus we can properly toss tachyons in that circular file labelled “Occam’s razor”. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy\_Greg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Cowboy\_Greg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy_Greg)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 1999, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/7 "1999-09-14T03:30:00Z")
Oh, shall I pick that nit? We interact with **sub** luminal particles all the time. **Super** luminal particles might be a bit harder to grab hold of. * * * Someday we’ll look back on this, laugh nervously, and change the subject… ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy\_Greg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Cowboy\_Greg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy_Greg)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 1999, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/8 "1999-09-14T03:31:00Z")
Ooops. That’ll teach me to parse the entire sentence before jumping. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa. ::slinks off into shadows:: * * * Someday we’ll look back on this, laugh nervously, and change the subject… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-science-story/3227/9 "1999-09-15T22:14:00Z")
Nice post/sig match. 😉