186
PHVSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
and Mars that might be harvested by the space probe. Given the complexities and cost of launching this huge antimatter collector, however,
it probably won't be realized until the end of this century, or beyond.
Some scientists have dreamed about harvesting antimatter from a
meteor floating in outer space. (The Flash Gordon comic strip once
featured a rogue antimatter meteor drifting in space, which could create a terrifying explosion if it came in contact with any planet.)
If naturally occurring antimatter is not found in space, we will
have to wait decades or even centuries before we can produce significantly large quantities of antimatter on the Earth. But assuming that
the technical problems of producing antimatter can be solved, this
leaves open the possibility that one day antimatter rockets may take us
to the stars.
Given what we know of antimatter today, and the foreseeable evolution of this technology, I would classify an antimatter rocket ship as
a Class I impossibility.
FOUNDER OF ANTIMATTER
What is antimatter? It seems strange that nature would double the
number of subatomic particles in the universe for no good reason. Nature is usually quite sparing, but now that we know about antimatter,
nature seems to be supremely redundant and wasteful. And if antimatter exists, can anti-universes also exist?
To answer these questions, one has to investigate the origin of antimatter itself. The discovery of antimatter actually dates back to 1928,
with the pioneering work of Paul Dirac, one of the most brilliant physicists of the twentieth century. He held the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge University, the same chair held by Newton, and the chair
currently held by Stephen Hawking. Dirac, born in 1902, was a tall,
wiry man who was in his early twenties when the quantum revolution
broke open in 1925. Although he was studying electrical engineering
at that time, he was suddenly swept up in the tidal wave of interest unleashed by the quantum theory.
PHVSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
and Mars that might be harvested by the space probe. Given the complexities and cost of launching this huge antimatter collector, however,
it probably won't be realized until the end of this century, or beyond.
Some scientists have dreamed about harvesting antimatter from a
meteor floating in outer space. (The Flash Gordon comic strip once
featured a rogue antimatter meteor drifting in space, which could create a terrifying explosion if it came in contact with any planet.)
If naturally occurring antimatter is not found in space, we will
have to wait decades or even centuries before we can produce significantly large quantities of antimatter on the Earth. But assuming that
the technical problems of producing antimatter can be solved, this
leaves open the possibility that one day antimatter rockets may take us
to the stars.
Given what we know of antimatter today, and the foreseeable evolution of this technology, I would classify an antimatter rocket ship as
a Class I impossibility.
FOUNDER OF ANTIMATTER
What is antimatter? It seems strange that nature would double the
number of subatomic particles in the universe for no good reason. Nature is usually quite sparing, but now that we know about antimatter,
nature seems to be supremely redundant and wasteful. And if antimatter exists, can anti-universes also exist?
To answer these questions, one has to investigate the origin of antimatter itself. The discovery of antimatter actually dates back to 1928,
with the pioneering work of Paul Dirac, one of the most brilliant physicists of the twentieth century. He held the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge University, the same chair held by Newton, and the chair
currently held by Stephen Hawking. Dirac, born in 1902, was a tall,
wiry man who was in his early twenties when the quantum revolution
broke open in 1925. Although he was studying electrical engineering
at that time, he was suddenly swept up in the tidal wave of interest unleashed by the quantum theory.