ANTIMATTER AND ANTI-UNIVERSES ISI
around antiprotons). In fact, anti-elements, anti-chemistry, antipeople, anti-Earths, and even anti-universes are theoretically possible.
At present the giant particle accelerators at CERN and the Fermilab outside Chicago have been able to create minute quantities of antihydrogen. (This is done by blasting a beam of high-energy protons into
a target using particle accelerators, thereby creating a shower of subatomic debris. Powerful magnets separate out the antiprotons, which
are slowed down to very low velocities and then are exposed to the
antielectrons that are naturally emitted from sodium-22. When the
antielectrons orbit around the antiprotons, they create antihydrogen,
since hydrogen is made up of one proton and one electron.) In a pure
vacuum, these anti-atoms might live forever. But because of impurities
and collisions with the wall, these anti-atoms eventually strike ordinary atoms and they are annihilated, releasing energy.
In 1995 CERN made history when it announced that it had created
nine antihydrogen atoms. Fermilab soon followed suit by producing
one hundred atoms of antihydrogen. In principle, there is nothing to
prevent us from creating higher anti-elements as well, except for the
staggering cost. Producing even a few ounces of anti-atoms would
bankrupt any nation. The current rate of production of antimatter is
between one-billionth to ten-billionths of a gram per year. The yield
might increase by a factor of three by the year 2020. The economics of
antimatter are very poor. In 2004 it cost CERN $20 million to produce
several trillionths of a gram of antimatter. At that rate, producing a single gram of antimatter would cost $100 quadrillion and the antimatter
factory would need to run continuously for 100 billion years! This
makes antimatter the most precious substance in the world.
"If we could assemble all the anti-matter we've ever made at CERN
and annihilate it with matter," reads a statement from CERN, "we
would have enough energy to light a single electric light bulb for a few
minutes."
Handling antimatter poses extraordinary problems, since any contact between matter and antimatter is explosive. Putting antimatter in
an ordinary container would be suicide. When the antimatter touched
around antiprotons). In fact, anti-elements, anti-chemistry, antipeople, anti-Earths, and even anti-universes are theoretically possible.
At present the giant particle accelerators at CERN and the Fermilab outside Chicago have been able to create minute quantities of antihydrogen. (This is done by blasting a beam of high-energy protons into
a target using particle accelerators, thereby creating a shower of subatomic debris. Powerful magnets separate out the antiprotons, which
are slowed down to very low velocities and then are exposed to the
antielectrons that are naturally emitted from sodium-22. When the
antielectrons orbit around the antiprotons, they create antihydrogen,
since hydrogen is made up of one proton and one electron.) In a pure
vacuum, these anti-atoms might live forever. But because of impurities
and collisions with the wall, these anti-atoms eventually strike ordinary atoms and they are annihilated, releasing energy.
In 1995 CERN made history when it announced that it had created
nine antihydrogen atoms. Fermilab soon followed suit by producing
one hundred atoms of antihydrogen. In principle, there is nothing to
prevent us from creating higher anti-elements as well, except for the
staggering cost. Producing even a few ounces of anti-atoms would
bankrupt any nation. The current rate of production of antimatter is
between one-billionth to ten-billionths of a gram per year. The yield
might increase by a factor of three by the year 2020. The economics of
antimatter are very poor. In 2004 it cost CERN $20 million to produce
several trillionths of a gram of antimatter. At that rate, producing a single gram of antimatter would cost $100 quadrillion and the antimatter
factory would need to run continuously for 100 billion years! This
makes antimatter the most precious substance in the world.
"If we could assemble all the anti-matter we've ever made at CERN
and annihilate it with matter," reads a statement from CERN, "we
would have enough energy to light a single electric light bulb for a few
minutes."
Handling antimatter poses extraordinary problems, since any contact between matter and antimatter is explosive. Putting antimatter in
an ordinary container would be suicide. When the antimatter touched