In breakthrough, scientists trap antimatter atoms

[Diamond Cross]

GENEVA – Scientists may have been able to capture elusive atoms of antimatter, but don't expect that to lead to interstellar rocket engines or powerful bombs anytime soon — if ever.


Even as they announced the important advance in studying antimatter, they emphasized that science fiction uses of the stuff -- like propelling the starship Enterprise in "Star Trek" or fueling a bomb in Dan Brown's book "Angels and Demons" -- remain in the realm of the imagination.


International physicists at the [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]European [COLOR=#366388 ! important]Organization [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]for [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Nuclear [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Research[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], or CERN, said they had overcome a basic problem in studying atoms of antimatter. While such atoms have been created routinely in the lab for years, they tend to disappear so fast that scientists don't have a chance to study them.


But in a report published online by the journal Nature, the scientists said they'd been able to trap individual atoms and keep them around for a bit more than one-tenth of a second.


To a particle physicist, that's a pretty long time.


"For us it's a big breakthrough because it means we can take the next step, which is to try to compare matter and antimatter," the team's spokesman, American scientist Jeffrey Hangst, told the Associated Press on Thursday.


[Explainer: What's the difference between matter and antimatter?]

In breakthrough, scientists trap antimatter atoms - Yahoo! News

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Ehh...in 3 weeks, you'll find Chinese counterfeit antimatter on sale on the streets of LA & NYC.

 

[Mark CMG]

Congrats, Mister Luthor - Otis

 

[Umbran]

The remarkable thing there is not that there was antimatter. The major particle accelerators work with (and trap) antimatter particles all the time. But in all those cases, they're dealing with charged particles - they have a nice solid handle of electric charge to grasp.

Atoms, generally electrically neutral, are much harder to snag, as they don't have that handle.

 

[El Mahdi]

Ehh...in 3 weeks, you'll find Chinese counterfeit antimatter on sale on the streets of LA & NYC.

And probably made from Lead isotopes!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And probably made from Lead isotopes!

Nah- painted plastic- it's cheaper.

Of course, people won't notice until they start comparing their "antimatter" with the pix online.

 

[Diamond Cross]

Hmmmm... I wonder if the Conspiracy Theorists will change Thermite Dust to anti matter for 911.

 

[Felon]

i was hoping to read that the LHC was going to blwo up the world tomorrow so I don't have to go to work or do Xmas shopping.

 

[Orius]

And probably made from Lead isotopes!

Or worse, anti-lead!