(August 8, 2011 at 6:23 am)leo-rcc Wrote: Indeed, rubbing alcohol is much more fun.
Back on topic: I am a complete noob on the topic of antimatter. What is the significance of this finding?
Well they'd previously predicted that high energy particles from cosmic rays colliding with particles in the atmosphere would, just like a particle accelerator, create a rage of particle debris, antimatter included - The strong magnetic fields on either side of the Van Allen belt would trap them, preventing them from annihilating when they collide with normal matter - The observations were conformation of a rather uncontroversial theory.
The "applications" are the more significant part in principle, colliding matter with it's antimatter counterpart releases energy that can be used to power an engine, providing a potential source of fuel that takes up little room, doesn't weigh much and is extremely efficient, at least relative to fossil fuels.
How they're going to go about collecting the antimatter is what I'm having trouble picturing, some kind of 'magnetic net' or a vacuum might be needed.
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