Antimatter captured by CERN.

[CatInASuit]

No this is not a Dan Brown novel, they actually have managed to capture anti-matter in an electric field at CERN.

Apparently, they managed to capture 38 particles of anti-hydrogen in an electric field for one sixth of a second.

It will not be any use as a weapon due to the problems of generating it in the first place, but as a tool for researching particle physics and understanding the universe it is a massive breakthrough.

More on the story here.

[Hatshepsut]

Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

Gotta love the illustration they chose.

[What Exit?]

I hope the research leads to some sort of clean and safe energy source and soon. I'm pretty pessimistic about Fusion at this point.

[Zuul]

It's fantastic that they've been able to do this, but that was an atrociously written article.

[RabbitMage]

It's fantastic that they've been able to do this, but that was an atrociously written article.

Science articles are the worst.

But NEAT.

[OtakuLoki]

I hope the research leads to some sort of clean and safe energy source and soon. I'm pretty pessimistic about Fusion at this point.

ISTM that anti-matter is really, like hydrogen power for cars, simply an alternative to batteries. In theory it allows for phenomenal power availability per unit mass of the power plant, but since the anti-matter has to be generated in the first place (After all, where are you going to mine it?) it's not a replacement for current power generation technologies. It may be a replacement for power transmission, which would be a worthwhile thing to eliminate. But I don't see how it can be the Holy Grail so many people make it out to be.

[terrifel]

Mass media rule of thumb: if the story is about science, it's wrong.

CERN has been producing and capturing antimatter for something like a decade now. Up until now it has just been subatomic particles. However, antiprotons still qualify as antimatter.

The big deal about this newest breakthrough is that they were able to coax the antiprotons to hook up with positrons, forming electrically neutral atoms of antihydrogen.

[Oliveloaf]

Mass media rule of thumb: if the story is about science, it's wrong.

CERN has been producing and capturing antimatter for something like a decade now. Up until now it has just been subatomic particles. However, antiprotons still qualify as antimatter.

The big deal about this newest breakthrough is that they were able to coax the antiprotons to hook up with positrons, forming electrically neutral atoms of antihydrogen.

This is true about most things automotive. I read mass-media car stuff and am stunned by how inaccurate it is. Makes me wonder about stuff in areas in which I have no expertise.
I would never know if it's wrong--but I suspect it's as bad as the car stuff.

[Hatshepsut]

they were able to coax the antiprotons to hook up with positrons, forming electrically neutral atoms of antihydrogen.

I love it when you talk nerdy to me.

[Elendil's Heir]

Me too. I get shivers.

This may be the first baby step towards warp drive... who knows?

Here's another article on the topic: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe...ex.html?hpt=C1