For the first time, Northwestern University physicists have coaxed a single positron — the antimatter counterpart of an electron — into an exquisitely controlled quantum state.
This is actually really exciting! I fucking love anti-matter, always been fascinated by it.
If anti-matter can exist, why is our universe made of matter? This is the Baryon Asymmetry question that this research seeks to answer. The team has proven they can isolate a single positron. The next step is to measure it to as much accuracy as they have with the electron. Perhaps they will find differences!
Summer '25 CERN showed that anti-matter baryons (protons, neutrons, etc) decay differently - link. So there’s a good chance they might find something!
Would love to actually see anti-matter but that’s a long way off. Really hope anti-matter likes to stick together and we could actually build atoms out of it. Would be crazy to study the properties of anti-water! Maybe that’s just science fiction. In any case, very excited for the coming research!
“Would love to actually see anti-matter” - are you being literal here? because that would require a vacuum between your eyes and antimatter that emits at a visible frequency. Not entirely impossible, but detection and recording of an anti-hydrogen transition wavelength is more easily achievable. This might be no more than an LCD display indicating a non-zero number though. Exciting for sure, but not necessarily a visual spectacle.
I always assume it’s the same reason why are have mostly right handed people. It’s just that the scales tipped at some point and it had to go down one way from that point.
I think the universe actually is perfectly balanced between antimatter and matter, but variation across space emerged as space expanded and our entire observable universe happens to be in a pocket where there was more matter than antimatter.
Sounds reasonable. Assuming matter and antimatter split into equal parts that would have to be the case. I’m not sure if annihilation is a perfect process. Assuming energy density creates separation of energy into matter and antimatter of equal parts and no sudden annihilation happens, that would most certainly result in such a conclusion.
I actually think I solved that one a long time ago. I want with right, it works. Left–feels weird. Not like a good sort of “someone else is doing it” feeling like if you sit on your hand until it goes numb sort of thing.
But I digress. I think that mostly the survivors won the war regarding how to pleasure themselves and therefore have more of a reason to survive.
This is actually really exciting! I fucking love anti-matter, always been fascinated by it.
If anti-matter can exist, why is our universe made of matter? This is the Baryon Asymmetry question that this research seeks to answer. The team has proven they can isolate a single positron. The next step is to measure it to as much accuracy as they have with the electron. Perhaps they will find differences!
Summer '25 CERN showed that anti-matter baryons (protons, neutrons, etc) decay differently - link. So there’s a good chance they might find something!
Would love to actually see anti-matter but that’s a long way off. Really hope anti-matter likes to stick together and we could actually build atoms out of it. Would be crazy to study the properties of anti-water! Maybe that’s just science fiction. In any case, very excited for the coming research!
If you love antimatter. eat banana. It contains traces of antimatter.
Don’t they annihilate each other when they encounter matter? How can a banana contain antimatter safely?
The problem is it also contains a non-insignificant quantity of banana.
“Would love to actually see anti-matter” - are you being literal here? because that would require a vacuum between your eyes and antimatter that emits at a visible frequency. Not entirely impossible, but detection and recording of an anti-hydrogen transition wavelength is more easily achievable. This might be no more than an LCD display indicating a non-zero number though. Exciting for sure, but not necessarily a visual spectacle.
You did not just write “LCD display”. Feel ashamed! >:V
Yeah very literal. Would need millions of atoms of the stuff. Actually maybe that’s too dangerous lol
We have managed to see a single strontium atom - link. Maybe that’s attainable with anti-matter.
But yeah you’re right, capturing an anti-hyrdogen emission would be an huge achievement itself!
Make the glass of anti water on the moon just in case heh.
Make that an anti-glass!
Shit. See, I already blew the moon up.
It’s been done, but not in the visible spectrum: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/first-spectroscopic-measurement-anti-atom
I always assume it’s the same reason why are have mostly right handed people. It’s just that the scales tipped at some point and it had to go down one way from that point.
I think the universe actually is perfectly balanced between antimatter and matter, but variation across space emerged as space expanded and our entire observable universe happens to be in a pocket where there was more matter than antimatter.
Sounds reasonable. Assuming matter and antimatter split into equal parts that would have to be the case. I’m not sure if annihilation is a perfect process. Assuming energy density creates separation of energy into matter and antimatter of equal parts and no sudden annihilation happens, that would most certainly result in such a conclusion.
Yeah probably but the important bit is why!
Good point about right handedness! That is actually quite fascinating as well because in most other primates it’s a 50/50 split.
Turns out walking is probably the major factor and our brains created the split - link. Still more questions though lol
TIL. Thanks!
I actually think I solved that one a long time ago. I want with right, it works. Left–feels weird. Not like a good sort of “someone else is doing it” feeling like if you sit on your hand until it goes numb sort of thing.
But I digress. I think that mostly the survivors won the war regarding how to pleasure themselves and therefore have more of a reason to survive.