Antimatter from thunder

Nyx · January 12, 2011, 07:49:36 PM

I think this is pretty cool

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-01/beams-antimatter-stream-space-during-earthly-thunderstorms-nasa-says

Apparently the effect has been known for a few years, the news is how it happens.

wm.annis · January 12, 2011, 07:56:08 PM

My favorite line from the article: "in a neat twist, this means infinitesimally small parts of Fermi met a spectacular death that the telescope itself detected."

Don't play with antimatter, kids! Someone'll lose an electron.

Tsuksìm atsawl (KaPTan) · January 12, 2011, 08:01:28 PM

lolz

Swoka Ikran · January 12, 2011, 08:04:36 PM

Interesting. Now I have something to think about next time we have a thunderstorm...

Txur’Itan · January 12, 2011, 11:33:18 PM

I wonder if this discovery can be leveraged for the future of harvesting positrons?

Human No More · January 13, 2011, 02:12:34 AM

Theoretically yes, but unlikely to be on a useful scale, plus positrons can't be stored

archaic · January 14, 2011, 07:09:56 AM

Not at the present time, but one day ....

Ku'rända · January 22, 2011, 12:49:33 AM

Not to devalue it, but.. That's not really very useful- I mean. We can make antimatter here on earth, rather than lightning storms shooting them out in space XB

Human No More · January 22, 2011, 06:03:33 AM

Quote from: Ku'rända on January 22, 2011, 12:49:33 AM
Not to devalue it, but.. That's not really very useful- I mean. We can make antimatter here on earth, rather than lightning storms shooting them out in space XB

Only a few nuclei at once though, and the costs of doing so are still high enough to make it the most expensive substance on Earth.

Nyx · January 22, 2011, 08:14:06 AM

No, it's not really useful for practical things, but it does help us understand a tiny bit more about what's going on in the universe. Besides, just mentioning antimatter makes me think "warp drive" so I think it's cool

Kactima · January 28, 2011, 03:43:33 PM

Quote from: Human No More on January 13, 2011, 02:12:34 AM
Theoretically yes, but unlikely to be on a useful scale, plus positrons can't be stored

oh yes they can be stored
put them in a vacuum with a magnetic field keep them from touching regular matter
then add a electron with them and they will neutralize. allowing them to stay in one place and not push each other around. Allowing you to store more then a few at a time

Human No More · January 29, 2011, 12:02:38 AM

Quote from: Mawey Atan'eko on January 28, 2011, 03:43:33 PM
Quote from: Human No More on January 13, 2011, 02:12:34 AM
Theoretically yes, but unlikely to be on a useful scale, plus positrons can't be stored

oh yes they can be stored
put them in a vacuum with a magnetic field keep them from touching regular matter
then add a electron with them and they will neutralize. allowing them to stay in one place and not push each other around. Allowing you to store more then a few at a time

...which is impossible in real-world terms, plus if a positron and electron do come into contact, they decay to gamma ray photons.

Tswusayona Tsamsiyu · February 12, 2011, 02:58:06 PM

this is totally awesome!!
but that means the amount of antimatter ejected is extreamely small.
if the amount of antimatter ejected was even as large as a coin's mass it would have caused an gigantic explosion powerful like numerous atom bombs
suddenly thunderstorms seem much scarier to me

`Eylan Ayfalulukanä · February 19, 2011, 03:44:18 AM

Electron-positron interactions are all around us. They produce a distinctive gamma ray with an energy of .511 MEV, which is not a particularly strong gamma ray. Still, I thought it was interesting that this was the source of gamma rays measured at the tops of intense thunderstorms. Do a search on 'sprites' and 'thunderstorms'. It is some very interesting reading.