Scientists capture antimatter atoms in particle breakthrough

[blu]

Scientists capture antimatter atoms in particle breakthrough - CNN.com

Scientists have captured antimatter atoms for the first time, a breakthrough that could eventually help us to understand the nature and origins of the universe.

Researchers at CERN, the Geneva-based particle physics laboratory, have managed to confine single antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic trap.

 

[JBeukema]

What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

That's so fucking cool!

 

[blu]

What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

further research into the area could definitively prove theories on the origins of life / the universe itself

 

[CrusaderFrank]

we won't need dilithium crystal to power the warp engines!

 

[uscitizen]

Old news, I have a mason jar full of those in my cellar.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Old news, I have a mason jar full of those in my cellar.

 

[Mr. H.]

We never know for certain where the quest for knowlege may some day lead us.

 

[uscitizen]

Old news, I have a mason jar full of those in my cellar.

do they go bad?
And like some cheeses how would one tell?

 

[JBeukema]

What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

further research into the area could definitively prove theories on the origins of life / the universe itself

1) That would fall under mental masturbation

2) No, it can't. We cannot recreate under controlled conditions the 'beginning' of our own universe and subject the experiment to peer review. All we can do is continue to experiment and research and gather evidence supporting or refuting a given model. We cannot 'prove' these theories any more than we can scientifically 'prove' Abe Lincoln existed and sat at a given table on a given day.

I repeat: What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

I'm not seeing why they're spending money on this given the current economic situation.

 

[JBeukema]

We never know for certain where the quest for knowlege may some day lead us.

Anti-Matter Bomb?

Because the Plutonium-Bomb, the Uranium-Bomb, the H-Bomb, and Castel Bravo just weren't enough...

 

[L.K.Eder]

Old news, I have a mason jar full of those in my cellar.

do they go bad?
And like some cheeses how would one tell?

screen for anti-maggots.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Does this mean there's an anti-matter rdean posting at BMSU how "6% of Scientists are Democrats"?

 

[Sherry]

I don't want to live long enough to see all the mysteries of life solved.

 

[konradv]

What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

From the practical prespective the goal of nuclear physics is to develop a sustainable fusion reaction, resulting in nearly unlimited cheap energy. For more info go to:

ITER - the way to new energy OR

Department of Energy - Fusion

 

[Old Rocks]

What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

further research into the area could definitively prove theories on the origins of life / the universe itself

1) That would fall under mental masturbation

2) No, it can't. We cannot recreate under controlled conditions the 'beginning' of our own universe and subject the experiment to peer review. All we can do is continue to experiment and research and gather evidence supporting or refuting a given model. We cannot 'prove' these theories any more than we can scientifically 'prove' Abe Lincoln existed and sat at a given table on a given day.

I repeat: What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

I'm not seeing why they're spending money on this given the current economic situation.

Wrong, absolutely wrong. Research, even when it costs too much, is a bargain. We never know where research into anything will lead. It was research in X-ray difraction in crystals that led to the discovery of the structure of DNA. An investigation into the odd properties of something call semi-conducting materials led, in less than a half century, to the revoltion in communication devices by which we are communicating.

Where will the investigations concerning anti-matter lead? Haven't the faintest. Nor does anyone else. But we do know that new knowledge has in the past led to great things.

 

[JBeukema]

What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

From the practical prespective the goal of nuclear physics is to develop a sustainable fusion reaction, resulting in nearly unlimited cheap energy. For more info go to:

ITER - the way to new energy OR

Department of Energy - Fusion

This gets us closer to that?

 

[bucs90]

Cool, I heard they found it in the Health Care Bill.

 

[G.T.]

further research into the area could definitively prove theories on the origins of life / the universe itself

1) That would fall under mental masturbation

2) No, it can't. We cannot recreate under controlled conditions the 'beginning' of our own universe and subject the experiment to peer review. All we can do is continue to experiment and research and gather evidence supporting or refuting a given model. We cannot 'prove' these theories any more than we can scientifically 'prove' Abe Lincoln existed and sat at a given table on a given day.

I repeat: What real-world applications does this have? What, beyond mental masturbation and strange new philosophies, can we expect to get out of this research?

I'm not seeing why they're spending money on this given the current economic situation.

Wrong, absolutely wrong. Research, even when it costs too much, is a bargain. We never know where research into anything will lead. It was research in X-ray difraction in crystals that led to the discovery of the structure of DNA. An investigation into the odd properties of something call semi-conducting materials led, in less than a half century, to the revoltion in communication devices by which we are communicating.

Where will the investigations concerning anti-matter lead? Haven't the faintest. Nor does anyone else. But we do know that new knowledge has in the past led to great things.

yessir

 

[waltky]

Nothing really matters...

New twist in antimatter mystery
29 February 2012 - CDF was one of two multi-purpose experiments at the US Tevatron accelerator near Chicago

Physicists have taken a step forward in their efforts to understand why the Universe is dominated by matter, and not its shadowy opposite antimatter. A US experiment has confirmed previous findings that hinted at new phenomena outside our understanding of physics. The results show that certain matter particles decay differently from their antimatter counterparts. Such differences could potentially help explain why there is so much more matter in the cosmos than antimatter. The findings from scientists working on the CDF experiment have been presented at a particle physics meeting in La Thuile, Italy.

CDF was one of two multi-purpose experiments at the now-defunct Tevatron particle smasher in Illinois. Physicists think the intense heat of the Big Bang should have forged equal amounts of matter and its "mirror image" antimatter. Yet today we live in a Universe composed overwhelmingly of matter. Antimatter is relatively uncommon, being produced at particle accelerators, in nuclear reactions or by cosmic rays. Getting to the bottom of where all this antimatter went remains one of the great endeavours of particle physics. The latest results support findings from the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, which were announced in November 2011.

Both CDF and LHCb have been looking at the process by which sub-atomic particles called D-mesons decay - or transform - into other ones. For example, D mesons are made up of particles known as charm quarks, and can decay into kaons and pions. Our best understanding of physics so far, known as the Standard Model, suggests the complicated cascades of decay of D-mesons into other particles should be very nearly the same - within less than 0.1% - as a similar chain of antimatter decays. But the LHCb team reported a difference of about 0.8%, and the team from CDF have now presented data showing a difference of 0.62%.

More BBC News - New twist in antimatter mystery