Antimatter Trapped For the First Time

Apr 2, 2009
2,147
http://gizmodo.com/5692614/antimatter-trapped-for-the-first-time

whoa

Get ready for that warp drive spaceship, because we are now one step closer to it. After creating antihydrogen in their antiproton decelerator, scientists at CERN have been able to trap antimatter for the first time in history.

This a big step. First, it gets humanity closer to understanding one of the biggest mysteries of the Universe: What happened to all the antimatter that was created during the Big Bang? In theory, matter and antimatter were created in equal parts during the Big Bang. However, the latter disappeared shortly thereafter. Or at least, we can't seem to find it. The spokesman for CERN's ALPHA experiment—Jeffrey Hangst of Aarhus University, Denmark—says that trapping these atoms was a bit of an overwhelming experience:

What's new about Alpha is that now we've managed to hold on to those atoms. We have a magnetic bowl, kind of a bottle, that holds the antihydrogen [...] For reasons that no one yet understands, nature ruled out antimatter. It is thus very rewarding, and a bit overwhelming, to look at the ALPHA device and know that it contains stable, neutral atoms of antimatter.

hit the link for more
 
Me too! I always follow their research, especially from CERN. I wish I were able to retain all I read, then I could be a scientist. lol. But, alas, i'm not CERN smart. haha...

Well I did get the highest score in Anatomy in the school on the male reproductive system! :scat:
 
yah, all this stuff is very interesting. my friend and i dove into a discussion about quantum mechanics and relativity thanks to this article. all stuff WAY over my head, but its crazy to think about!
 
yah, all this stuff is very interesting. my friend and i dove into a discussion about quantum mechanics and relativity thanks to this article. all stuff WAY over my head, but its crazy to think about!

We had some freakin mensa dude working for us a while back, he always talked about stuff like this. I could only keep up for no longer than 5 minutes. After that I would just stare into space because I had no clue what he was talking about.