33 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
33 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
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"TRAPPING ANTIMATTER"
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PHYSICISTS HAVE SUCCEEDED IN TRAPPING A FEW HUNDRED
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THOUSAND PARTICLES OF ANTIMATTER. THE TRAPPED PARTICLES
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WERE POSITRONS, THE ANTIMATTER VERSION OF ELECTRONS.
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THE TWO ARE IDENTICAL EXCEPT FOR ELECTRIC CHARGE, POSITRONS
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BEING POSITIVE AND ELECTRIONS NEGATIVE.
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RESEARCHERES AT AT&T BELL LABORATORIES AND THE UNIVERSITY
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OF CALIFORNIA IN SAN DIEGO SNARED THE FAST-MOVING POSITIRONS
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IN A WALNUT-SIZE TRAP OF MAGNETIC FIELDS. THEIR SOURCE WAS
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RADIOACTIVE SODIUM.
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THE POSITRONS FORMED A POSITIVE CHARGED PLASMA WITHIN
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THE MAGNETIC FIELD, WHICH ISOLATED THE PARTICLES FROM ORDINARY
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MATTER. AFTER ABOUT A MIMUTE THE POSITRONS BEGAN LEAKING FROM
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THEIR MAGNETIC "bottle", VANISHING IN BURSTS OF ENERGY AS THEY
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COLLIED WITH ELECTRONS.
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THE EXPERIMENT RAISES THE POSSIBILITY THAT PHYSICISTS MIGHT
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SOMEDAY MANUFACTURE THE FIRST ANTIMATTER ELEMENT, ANTIHYDROGEN-
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(THE FILP SIDE OF HYDROGEN). THEORETICALLY, ANTIHYDROGEN IS
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THE MOST EFFICIENT SOURCE OF ENERGY CONCEIVABLE. IF ANTIHYDROGEN
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AND ORDINARY HYDROGEN COULD MEET, THEIR MASS WOULD BE COMPLETELY
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TRANSFORMED INTO ENERGY.
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-----****PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS****------
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*KARL WEST*
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Graciously supplied by Double Helix BBS 1 (212) 865-7043......2400 N81N
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