Holding Anti-matter

[kyuuei]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_switzerland_antimatter

The whole thing sounded REALLY cool and exciting. To think we can hold onto something now-a-days that vanishes as soon as it touches matter.. i.e. like everything on earth.. It's awesome.

So what do you think this future information can be used for? Or is simply knowing good enough for us? Or maybe it's that we know so little that we don't even know if it's useful or not yet?

 

[Qlip]

This is super cool, I read a headline earlier, hadn't clicked on an article. I don't if what good we can do with it, but I know scientists really wonder why our universe is 'asymetrical', mostly matter as opposed to antimatter. It should help answer some of their questions. Unfortunately, I'm guessing it's isn't practical to power our starships off of it yet.

 

[rav3n]

Wow, energy potential!

 

[Shimmy]

Wow, energy potential!

Theoretically, yes. But the amount of energy needed to make anti-matter is always bigger than the amount of energy that can subsequently be extracted from it. So unless we can find a natural source of it somewhere in the universe it will never be a practical energy source.

 

[rav3n]

Theoretically, yes. But the amount of energy needed to make anti-matter is always bigger than the amount of energy that can subsequently be extracted from it. So unless we can find a natural source of it somewhere in the universe it will never be a practical energy source.

Agreed. This is presupposing the big bang theory is accurate. If so, it's out there and if we can contain the purported "mined" anti-matter source, imagine the potential in interstellar travel. Galactic fueling stations!

 

[Amethyst]

Wow, that is cool! At first I thought the article was going to be about something like dark matter or whatever. I feel like this can hold a lot of potential in so many things dealing with massive amounts of energy. Could one create their own star? Fascinating!

 

[Oberon]

Two college friends and I were discussing anti-matter. One friend and I were explaining it to the third fellow, Joe.

"So, for every kind of matter in the universe, there is potentially an equivalent anti-matter," my friend explained.

Joe's eyebrows shot up. "Wow! So you mean... there could be an anti-Joe somewhere?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "He's cool."

More heat than light shed in that discussion, really...

 

[rav3n]

Heat Oberon, or empty space?

Thinking about this more, if we attempt to tap into natural sources of anti-matter, what will happen to the balance, if any of it exists?

 

[JocktheMotie]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean. There isn't a 1:1 ratio of matter to anti-matter, and matter/anti-matter aren't really "linked" in some sort of way that says what happens to one must happen to some coupled pair somewhere. One of the questions for early cosmology/physics is why there's anything at all, and why we're not just awash in a sea of photons. The usual answer is just quantum uncertainty but they're looking into it to perhaps find something more substantial.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

* wants to touch*

 

[Shimmy]

Heat Oberon, or empty space?

Thinking about this more, if we attempt to tap into natural sources of anti-matter, what will happen to the balance, if any of it exists?

If humans start tapping into that source we will increase the Entropy in the Universe.

* wants to touch*

* Wants to watch*

 

[JocktheMotie]

Entropy increases over time anyways, and the timeline of this universe ends with cold, dark death regardless of whether or not we're here. We won't accelerate that inevitability in any meaningful degree, so it's not something to worry about.

 

[Shimmy]

Entropy increases over time anyways, and the timeline of this universe ends with cold, dark death regardless of whether or not we're here. We won't accelerate that inevitability in any meaningful degree, so it's not something to worry about.

Jup, besides, we are allready increasing entropy by burning oil, splitting atoms, farting etc.And appart from that, one solar flare outburst is increasing the universes total entropy more then the earth with all humans does in a decade!