3 ms·
> That means that if ever a matter and antimatter particle come into contact, they will annihilate each other in a burst of energy. Dumb q: if you could get a
by azinman2 5y ago
> That means that if ever a matter and antimatter particle come into contact, they will annihilate each other in a burst of energy.
Dumb q: if you could get a bunch of anti-matter, could it be harvested to generate electricity?
- eigenket 5y agoYes, but the only ways we know to generate antimatter require a lot of energy. Theoretically it could be an incredibly energy dense "battery" for spaceships or whatever though.
- User23 5y agoIt’s expensive too[1]. “Right now, antimatter is the most expensive substance on Earth, about $62.5 trillion a gram ($1.75 quadrillion an ounce).” [1] https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/prop12apr99_1 https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/p...
- h2odragon 5y agoOf course they really nail you on the shipping and handling fees.
- dukwon 5y agoThey're genuinely working on being able to deliver it in the back of a van: https://home.cern/news/news/physics/cern-approves-two-new-experiments-transport-antimatter https://home.cern/news/news/physics/cern-approves-two-new-ex...
- opportune 5y agoHumans use positrons all the time though, it just turns out (anti)leptons have extremely low mass relative to their usefulness.
- Filligree 5y agoYou'd need some way to capture the gamma-ray photons and pions, but yes. I'd recommend a wall of plasma. ...then use that to run a steam engine. Sigh. We'll never escape those.
- ergocoder 5y agoYes. With small amount of matter/antimatter, It actually can power an interstellar travel where it accelerates 1g for years.
- chadcmulligan 5y agoto mars and back in a few days at 1g.