Scientists Create Antimatter They Can Actually Study
Looks like the return on investment at CERN is going to be pretty good. Alexis Madrigal breaks down what they found and what it means.
Still looking for a satisfying definition of antimatter for a non-scientist like myself. Can you give me one? I’ve read that antimatter is - theoretically - composed of antiparticles. I understand this to mean - in my own words - that it’s like “opposite atoms” composed of “opposite electrons,” “opposite protons,” etc. Am I understanding that correctly?
But what IS it? Is it substance? Or is it nothing? And if it’s nothing, how can it be composed of anything? Maybe I’m too dumb, but I just can’t get this one. And everything I read (or hear) just talks in circles or assumes I know something that I don’t. Break it down for me, nerds!
Basically we dont know what it is, which is kind of what makes it so interesting. I mean, we can define it, sure, in the same sense that mathematically we know black holes exist, but we have yet to observe one (because they’re black…they have space camouflage) or even really know what or how it exists.
Also, there’s so little antimatter in the universe anyways (and if there was a significant amount, it’d be colliding with our mostly matter universe and be blowin’ shit up yo), our best explanations are just what you said…. particles with negative charges.
I also wanted to reblog because I love this picture… an infographic representation of how the Universe was created…. we think the Big Bang was a massive explosion between matter and antimatter, which negate each other. So no matter how many trillion, billion, million antimatter atoms there were in the Universe, there could be as little as trillion, billion, million…. and one postive-charged atoms for matter to basically win out. So here’s your cosmic optimism for the day: you’re always on the winning side :)
/nerdy mode disengaged
