The Phantom of the OPERA

You will recall that it was claimed by the good folks running the OPERA experiment (the CERN atomic racetrack) that neutrinos were racing from Switizerland to Italy at speeds faster than light. Gleeful crowds were applauding the fall of that eccentric old German, Einstein.

Well, the boys at OPERA have egg on their face. Turns out it was a loose connection on the cable used to syncronize their watches.

I wouldn't quite say they have "egg on their face". It seemed like the whole situation played out just like good science should:

Scientists see an interesting experimental result that is unexpected; they ask other independent teams to check their methods; scientists find some flaw admit there mistake, and move on.