Antimatter gets trapped for 15 minutes by CERN scientists, escapes unharmed

Antimatter particles are elusive little critters that tend to disappear moments after being spotted. Unless, it turns out, you trap them in a “magnetic bottle” and turn the temperature right down to almost absolute zero. CERN scientists have now used this technique to hold 300 antihydrogen particles for up to 1,000 seconds, relaxing them into their ground (stationary) state to make them easier to study. This opens the way for further research later in the year, when captured particles will be prodded with lasers and microwaves to see if they obey the same laws of physics that govern everything else in our universe. After all this effort, we’re quietly hoping they don’t. [Thanks, Howard] Antimatter gets trapped for 15 minutes by CERN scientists, escapes unharmed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on June 7, 2011. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.