• 17 minutes trapped in one place; antimatter was just hangin’ source

• » This is what we call progress: Back in November, it was kind of a big thing when scientists managed to trap antimatter at all — even for .17 seconds! Now we’ve gotten past viral video length and we’re almost at the length of an episode of “The Office.” The lifespan of the antimatter is a big deal because usually when antimatter is made, it disappears instantly. But the process that CERN (known as the European Organization for Nuclear Research) uses basically holds the antimatter in place using really strong magnets. The longer lifetimes offer scientists the opportunity to study it in greater detail, which is kind of neat, and to possibly figure out longer-term uses for this pretty cool technology. This research totally matters, guys.

Posted by Ernie Smith • Permalink