You Antimatter!: CERN Successfully Traps Antihydrogen Atoms For A Solid 16-Minutes
You know what this antimatter trap needs? More tinfoil.
Antimatter: I have no idea what it is. I thought it was something you told a frienemy to hurt their feelings. But apparently it has something to do with particles. And now CERN has successfully trapped some for 1,000 seconds. That's like a whole f***ing year in butterfly-time!
Scientists used CERN's high-energy accelerator to create the antihydrogen atoms, and then chilled them to near-zero temperatures.
The aim is to use laser and microwave spectroscopy to compare the immobilised particles to their hydrogen counterparts.The same team succeeded last year in trapping dozens of anti-matter atoms and holding them in place for a fraction of a second, a world first at the time.
Scientists will now look for "violations" or discrepancies in something called the charge-parity-time reversal (CPT) symmetry.
Measurements of trapped antihydrogen are due to get underway shortly, and could yield results before the end of the year.
Of course -- charge-parity-time reversal symmetry, why didn't you just say that? Pfft, and I thought this was going to be complicated. One time I trapped a burp in a jar and huffed it a whole year later. I vomed -- big time.
Scientists 'trap' and study elusive anti-matter [telegraph]
Thanks to Schmaltz, Woody and R-Man Supernova, who have both trapped lightning bugs for even longer.
