Tech | November 18, 2010 | 16 comments

CERN Captures Elusive Antimatter Atom

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It was once used to propel Captain Kirk across the stars.
Now scientists say they have captured a sample of real-life antimatter for the first time.
In an astonishing breakthrough, a team of British and international physicists were able to 'trap' 38 atoms of anti-hydrogen in a laboratory for a fraction of a second.
While the experiment is unlikely to lead to the warp engines, anti-matter drives or the faster than light travel of Star Trek, it could shed light on the nature and origins of the Universe. Antimatter is the mirror of ordinary matter. Normal atoms are made up of positively-charged nuclei orbited by negatively-charged electrons.
However, their antimatter counterparts are the wrong way round. They have negative nuclei and positively-charged electrons. When matter and antimatter meet they instantly annihilate each other, releasing a burst of energy.
Since it was first proposed by the British physicist Paul Dirac in 1931, antimatter has been a staple of science fiction.
An antimatter reactor powers the USS Enterprise in the TV and film series Star Trek, while an antimatter bomb hidden under Rome plays a key role Dan Brown's thriller Angels & Demons.
Theoretically, a single pound of antimatter would contain more destructive power than the largest H-bomb. However, creating and holding even a tiny amount of antimatter is so difficult and expensive, the chances of it being used in a superweapon are remote.
The new research, published today in the journal Nature, involved researchers at the European nuclear research facility at Cern, Geneva.
Using the Anti-hydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus, or Alpha, the scientists cooled negatively charged antiprotons - the mirror version of hydrogen nuclei - and squeezed them into a matchstick-sized cloud 20 mm long and 1.4 mm wide.
These clouds of particles were then introduced to a similar cold cloud of positrons - antimatter electrons.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1330593/Physics-breakthrough-Scie...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1330593/Physics-breakthrough-Scie...
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