Corrigan brothers band views on Einstein discussed in NY Times – VIDEO

The New York Times science section is the last place you would expect to find the Irish band The Corrigan Brothers being quoted, and in relation to Albert Einstein’s theory of spatial relativity no less!

The article quotes the band’s new song “Einstein and the Neutrinos”, asking “Does E still equal MC squared?” when referring to the news that rocked the scientific world last month.

A group of physicists based at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy claim that they have observed subatomic particles, neutrinos, moving faster than the speed of light, thus disproving Albert Einstein’s theory established in 1905.

Quite a blow to physicists worldwide but good news for the Corrigan Brothers whose tune has apparently hit the nail on the head, illustrating the quandary the scientific world now faces.

Ger, from the Corrigan Brothers, told IrishCentral, “It is great to be acknowledged by the science community in such an important and significant newspaper.”

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The Corrigan Brothers are known around the world for their song “There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama”. In fact the band had the honor of playing the song at President Obama’s inauguration and this summer they released a special video in honor of Obama’s visit to his ancestral home of Moneygall, County Offally, last May. (see below)

The Times article goes on to point out that many physicists do not believe the claims of the Italian group, pointing out that “among other things, a neutrino or anything else that went faster than the speed of light could go backward in time.”

However, what is true is that their experiment and their claims have grasped the imagination of pop culture. As one commenter on the Corrigan Brothers video said, “Irish Folk & particle physics — what a combo.”

The Italian based group, working under the acronym OPERA, announced their experiment’s results at a special symposium at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research. They claim their neutrinos had “beaten a metaphorical light beam from CERN to Gran Sasso, a distance of 457 miles, by 60 nanoseconds.”

Initially it seems that the physicists at CERN were in agreement with the Corrigan Brothers. They believe it is a mistake. “Einstein’s theory is the basis of all modern physics, and has been tested a zillion times.”

Or as the Corrigans put it:

"Was old Albert wrong?

Oh can it be, that fabulous theory —

relativity — is being debunked for the first time?

But he still might be right, old Albert Einstein.”

Physicists around the world continue to debate on whether the OPERA group are correct. However, John Learned, a neutrino physicist at the University of Hawaii, told the Times that while their results might not be right, “they are still not easily dismissed.”

And apparently you can’t dismiss the Corrigan Brothers either; the US Presidential inauguration and now The New York Times. Who knows where they’ll turn up next?

Their new album, “If the Corrigan Brothers are to be believed”, will be released on Jan 5th 2011.

Here’s a video of their song “Einstein and the Neutrinos”: