Albert Einstein, who first developed the theory of relativity. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Scientists may have done what they previously thought impossible: broken the laws of physics.

The former law was that nothing can go faster than the speed of light. However, European scientists believe they may have found subatomic particles that can travel faster than that, which violates Einstein's famous theory of relativity.

But scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, headquartered in Geneva, aren't quick to believe that E=mc^2 is no more.

From The UK Telegraph:
 

Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for the international group of researchers, said that measurements taken over three years showed neutrinos pumped from CERN near Geneva to Gran Sasso in Italy had arrived 60 nanoseconds quicker than light would have done.

"We have high confidence in our results. We have checked and rechecked for anything that could have distorted our measurements but we found nothing," he said. "We now want colleagues to check them independently."

Einstein's theory was first widely accepted in 1905, more than 100 years ago. Now it's becoming an international effort to explore the new subatomic particles.

From USA TODAY:

"The feeling that most people have is this can't be right, this can't be real," said James Gillies, a spokesman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The organization, known as CERN, hosted part of the experiment, which is unrelated to the massive $10 billion Large Hadron Collider also located at the site.

"It's a shock," said Fermilab head theoretician Stephen Parke, who was not part of the research in Geneva. "It's going to cause us problems, no doubt about that — if it's true."