LHC Scientists Create and Capture Antimatter 269
Velcroman1 writes "Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have created antimatter in the form of antihydrogen, demonstrating how it's possible to capture and release it. The development could help researchers devise laboratory experiments to learn more about this strange substance, which mostly disappeared from the universe shortly after the Big Bang 14 billion years ago. Trapping any form of antimatter is difficult, because as soon as it meets normal matter — the stuff Earth and everything on it is made out of — the two annihilate each other in powerful explosions. 'We are getting close to the point at which we can do some classes of experiments on the properties of antihydrogen,' said Joel Fajans, a University of California, Berkeley professor of physics, and LBNL faculty scientist. 'Since no one has been able to make these types of measurements on antimatter atoms at all, it's a good start.'"
Still on track... (Score:5, Funny)
... for destroying the world in 2012.
positive first (Score:2, Funny)
If I reply, will our comments annihilate each other?
If it's antimatter.. (Score:5, Funny)
Only if... (Score:5, Funny)
Now if they could only create antiidiot we could release it and take care of most of the worlds problems.
last get (Score:5, Funny)
This would have been a better joke if you said "last get" instead.
Re:If it's antimatter.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:2012 (Score:5, Funny)
Naw, the real question is, "Does it antimatter?"
Pix or it didn't happen. (Score:4, Funny)
If they really created antihydrogen, they should prove it by taking a photo.
We'll have to be extra cautious that they don't just take a photo of regular hydrogen and apply a negative filter to the image.
- RG>
Re:Anti-matter behaves as expected, like matter (Score:5, Funny)
It would be a big thing if someone created anti-copper AND it didn't behave exactly like copper when supplied with an anti-potential from an anti-battery.
Would anti-physicists finally get the polarity correct on the anti-battery or would it still be backwards?
Re:cant wait for warp drives! (Score:3, Funny)
The LHC is in for trouble from the PETAM (Score:4, Funny)
LHC Scientists Create and Capture Antimatter
PETAM (People for the Ethical Treatment of Antimatter) are not going to be pleased with this. Especially the bits about physicists staging pit-bull style "dog fights" between matter and antimatter, and placing quantum mechanics based bets to the outcome of the duels.
Remember, children, "God does not play dice!"
And let that antimatter roam free! No capture, no antimatter!
Hold on a minute here (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Dumb Question (Score:5, Funny)
How do you trap a neutral antiparticle?
Tell him that his neutral anti-girlfriend is pregnant.
Re:Dumb Question (Score:4, Funny)
Really, that sounds more like the answer to "How do you get a neutral antiparticle to skip town and never be heard from again".
Re:Dumb Question (Score:4, Funny)
A neutron walks into a bar. He goes up to the counter and asks the bartender, "How much for a beer?"
The bartender looks the neutron up and down and says, "For you? No charge."
Ultimate geek prank (Score:1, Funny)
Rather than sodium flush a little antihydrogen down the toilet.
Re:Anti-matter behaves as expected, like matter (Score:3, Funny)
We will never know since every time an anti-physicist turns up for a meeting with a physicist to discuss their results they both disappear.
Re:A link to Fox News? But not the CERN site? (Score:1, Funny)
Don't you see the correlation, sending thousands of Slashdot readers to Fox News has about the same explosive effect as when anti-matter comes in contact with normal matter. Just read some of the comments under the article on Fox and compare/contrast.
Re:Anti-matter behaves as expected, like matter (Score:1, Funny)
No, they'll define anti-current to be positive in the direction the negative antimatter charge carriers would move if they existed.
Re:Time symmetry (Score:3, Funny)
Re:2012 (Score:3, Funny)
Naw, the real question is, "Does it antimatter?"
Absolutely positively!
Re:antihydrogen (Score:3, Funny)
IANAP
Not a proton? Sorry, due to violent history, antiprotons are no longer permitted to post on these forums. We hope you understand. However, if you feel this policy is threatening or misplaced, please post a message to our Dilithium moderators, and they will be glad to transfer your message once it has been phase-adjusted. We do not intend to inject our own matter/antimatter opinions, or to warp your discussions, but our core values require that we encourage a field of openness. Please do not post trilithium remarks, as this will result in an instant ban and a referral to the nearest Bussard collector.
Re:If it's antimatter.. (Score:2, Funny)
That's no neutron (Score:5, Funny)
The bartender looks the neutron up and down and says, "For you? No charge."
Of course if the bartender had been a particle physicist and looked him up and down then he would have said: "Hey you're no neutron, you are a quark short. That'll be full charge for you, you pion!"
What a bunch of idiots (Score:3, Funny)
Why not just make a container out of anti-matter? Problem solved.
I once met an electron... (Score:2, Funny)
... who thought he was a positron.
"Are you sure?", I asked.
"I'm positive".
*ducks*