11–20 of 109 posts
"The ALPHA team now plans to cool a small lump of antihydrogen ..." How do you cool something at this scale? And how about when it can't collide with any normal matter?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the article: "The long term storage of significant amounts of antihydrogen should soon settle the question of whether antimatter falls up or down." One reason they would like to know if antimatter is repelled by gravity is that it could explain why the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.[1] [1]: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-antimatter-gravity-unive...
>>"The long term storage of significant amounts of antihydrogen should soon settle the question of whether antimatter falls up or down." Would this mean that if I am "holding onto" a chunk of antimatter heaver than myself I will fall up into space?
But yeah, one theory is that if you hold one that's more massive than you are, its repulsion would overpower your attraction, and bang, zoom, straight to the moon!
If it is proven that that anti-matter is repelled by gravity does that mean hover-boards will become a reality in our lifetimes? What are some of the potential practical applications?
"The ALPHA team now plans to cool a small lump of antihydrogen ..." How do you cool something at this scale? And how about when it can't collide with any normal matter?
Possibly with something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cooling , where you're not actually striking it with matter, but only with photons, though I don't know if photons react with antimatter (I presume not, but I am not a particle physicist).
I am nothing short of _astounded_ that we don't know if anti-matter "falls up".
"The ALPHA team now plans to cool a small lump of antihydrogen ..." How do you cool something at this scale? And how about when it can't collide with any normal matter?
Possibly with something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cooling , where you're not actually striking it with matter, but only with photons, though I don't know if photons react with antimatter (I presume not, but I am not a particle physicist).
although iirc Dark matter is something does not interact with light.
If it is proven that that anti-matter is repelled by gravity does that mean hover-boards will become a reality in our lifetimes? What are some of the potential practical applications?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worm_hole#Traversable_wormholes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive
I am nothing short of _astounded_ that we don't know if anti-matter "falls up".
I've never heard anyone argue that it would react any differently to gravity than normal matter. After all, the only difference is the electrical charge of the particles. They have the same mass.
If it is proven that that anti-matter is repelled by gravity does that mean hover-boards will become a reality in our lifetimes? What are some of the potential practical applications?
Given that antimatter explodes violently when put into contact with regular matter, I kind of hope that's not how they go about achieving this. A kid who forgets to recharge his board, allowing the magnetic fields to collapse, could do a considerable amount of damage.