Ye cannae change the laws of physics

[mosaix]

Slightly old news, but the head of the 'Opera' team that reported the original results has now resigned.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17560379

[Ursa major]

That'll be because of the chorus of disapproval, I expect....

[Vertigo]

Arrrgh Ursa!

Actually I think it is a little harsh that he felt obliged to do so. In all fairness when they made the original announcement I recall that they made it very clear they considered their result unlikely in the extreme and were looking for help in discovering their probable error.

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

Actually I think it is a little harsh that he felt obliged to do so.

I agree. People should be allowed to learn from their mistakes. He's probably a better scientist as a result of what happened.

It's not as if any real harm was done.

[Vertigo]

That said I notice the article says (very carefully - 'reports said') that some of his team may have wanted him to resign. And that is starting to smack a little of internal politics. Unless, possibly, he had been the one to insist on publishing early and the rest of the team had been pushing for more time to check their results.