Transporting Antimatter On a Truck Is Tricky... (smithsonianmag.com)
- Reference: 0181147304
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/28/0511243/transporting-antimatter-on-a-truck-is-tricky
- Source link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-the-worlds-most-expensive-and-volatile-substance-antimatter-traveled-by-truck-180988431/
> ... but the CERN Project "Antimatter in motion" just did it. For the first time in history researchers at CERN have transported 92 antiprotons on a truck in a specially designed magnetic enclosure. The test-drive went so well that the researchers spontaneously decided to go another round... The purpose of the experiment was to test the feasibility of transporting antimatter to other facilities in Europe to conduct further antimatter research. German news [2]Tagesschau has a nice report .
CNN reports that the antiproton enclosure was [3]nearly six feet tall and weighed about 1,760 pounds . And Smithsonian magazine explains that it trapped the antiprotons in a vacuum chamber that had to be cooled to around -450 degrees Fahrenheit:
> Experts used a crane to carefully move the box of precious cargo from a lab onto a truck, which took about three hours, [4]per the Associated Press ' Jamey Keaten. Then, they drove the vehicle for roughly 30 minutes around CERN's campus, and subsequently returned the antiprotons to the lab. They worked with so little antimatter that even if it did touch ordinary matter and annihilate, it would release a small amount of energy detectable only by a special instrument, reports the AP.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~Qbertino
[2] https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/antimaterie-transport-lkw-100.html
[3] https://slashdot.org/The
[4] https://apnews.com/article/cern-antiproton-road-test-switzerland-geneva-17369ec3439bf5263d82ca11f0124895
Future (Score:2)
How long until I can order anti-matter on Amazon?
Re:Future (Score:4, Funny)
-4 years.
I'd hate to be the guy (Score:4, Funny)
"Inventory says we should have 92 antiprotons, but I keep counting 91".
"Keep looking!"
Re: (Score:2)
*ow!*
uh, found it...
To be honest ... (Score:1)
Well, when I read it was all pounds, in Europe, I wondered how much that is in kg. As I am lazy, I just divided by 2 ... but the result was a kind of odd number, so I lost a few bits of accuracy.
Then, considering that this is at the Swizz and German border, I wondered if they used forced workers, like the many refugees to get the container on the truck!
I am relieved to read, they used a crane!!
Now I only have to figure what exactly -half a thousand degrees Fahrenheit is. I guess I can google for an AI to fi
Re: (Score:2)
> Well, when I read it was all pounds, in Europe, I wondered how much that is in kg. As I am lazy, I just divided by 2 ... but the result was a kind of odd number, so I lost a few bits of accuracy.
More than a few bits. You can still be lazy by dividing by 2.2 and get a much better answer: 800 kg.
> Now I only have to figure what exactly -half a thousand degrees Fahrenheit is. I guess I can google for an AI to find that out.
I gather you went to high school somewhere other than the USA. Did you not learn C = (5/9) * (F - 32)? That yields about -267.77 C, or about 5.4 K (by adding 273.15.) In other words, close to as cold as you can possibly get.
And "exactly -half a thousand degrees Fahrenheit" sounds oxymoronic. Just saying.
They did it already (Score:2)
Looks like the contraptions in Ghost Busters.
Particularly ... (Score:3)
... if you do it [1]twice. [slashdot.org]
[1] https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/26/065258/researchers-at-cern-transport-antiprotons-by-truck-in-world-first-experiment
Re: (Score:2)
Not a rick-roll!
[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CduA0TULnow
Re: (Score:2)
If only there was an anti-dupe that could annihilate dupes on Slashdot. Then again, the energy released by them could be the death of us.