TECH

How do you get antimatter? On a truck
Since 2011 scientists have been able to produce antimatter and store it for about 16 minutes. Although its life span may be relatively short, on an atomic scale it is sufficient for its properties to be investigated in detail. Normally, antimatter is studied on the spot, but CERN needs to send it to another laboratory, the ISOLDE, located a few meters away.The plan is to use magnetic and electric fields to trap a cloud of antiprotons in a vacuum in a container, as explained to Nature. This will then be placed in a truck and transported to the neighboring laboratory. In ISOLDE a rare radiative atomic nucleus is produced, which however deteriorates very quickly to be moved.The goal of the project is to study the strange behavior of this nucleus and try to find out what happens to the neutrons released by its radiation. Scientists will do collision experiments between core and antiprotons and record the results.

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