Scientists trap anti-matter

While browsing the New Scientist website for our daily hit of physics goodness, we came across this article concerning boffins at CERN (European Organization for

While browsing the New Scientist website for our daily hit of physics goodness, we came across this article concerning boffins at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) and their successful attempt to create and trap anti-matter atoms.

Using magnetic fields, CERN scientists captured 'anti-protons' found inside the project's particle accelerator. Once this was achieved, they introduced a stream of 'positrons' (posative electrons) to slow the anti-protons down – they had been travelling at close to light speed.

According to the article, some anti-proton particles failed to be attracted to the positron stream. Scientists speculate that these non-moving particles had bound together to form neutral anti-matter particles, which explains why they were not attracted to the positron stream.

Combining matter with anti-matter results in a reaction that produces energy. Scientists hope they can harness this energy for other applications. However, the amount of energy generated by combining anti-matter collected during this experiment with normal matter would be relatively small – 'not even enough to warm a small cup of coffee.'