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Please drive carefully: scientists plan to transport volatile antimatter for first time
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ValueSubtracted startrek.website ValueSubtracted@startrek.website
Joined: 2023-06-11
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StillPaisleyCat startrek.website StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website
Joined: 2023-06-12
#2 · (edited) Quote Reply

This is cool. It’s very small amounts.

The key issue is that they are making antimatter at CERN but the magnetic fields at CERN impede studying/analysing it.

Checking in with a nearby physicist, the amount is so small that even in the worse case it would be unlikely to set off a radiation detector.

In return for this sagesse, I was subjected to several witticisms on the detectable rate of decay in the bananas we have awaiting to be turned into banana bread.

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Iced Raktajino startrek.website IcedRaktajino@startrek.website
Joined: 2025-07-15
#3 · Quote Reply

This is cool. It’s very small amounts. The key issue is that they are making antimatter at CERN but the magnetic fields at CERN impede studying/analysing it. Checking in with a nearby physicist, the amount is so small that even in the worse case it would be unlikely to set off a radiation detector. In return for this sagesse, I was subjected to several witticisms on the detectable rate of decay...

I love that "banana for scale" is also applicable to radioactivity.

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hallettj leminal.space hallettj@leminal.space
Joined: 2024-02-23
#4 · Quote Reply

They're making such progress! It wasn't that long ago that storing antimatter for a few minutes was a big achievement, let alone transporting it

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kieron115 startrek.website kieron115@startrek.website
Joined: 2024-02-14
#5 · (edited) Quote Reply

I was just about to post this! Now I really want to know if Data's neural network was banana powered.

"If one crunches the numbers (as they do in the original article), it turns out that bananas pop out a positron every 75 minutes or so."

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knightly the Sneptaur pawb.social knightly@pawb.social
Joined: 2023-07-05
#6 · (edited) Quote Reply

I was just about to post this! Now I really want to know if Data's neural network was banana powered. "If one crunches the numbers (as they do in the original article), it turns out that bananas pop out a positron every 75 minutes or so."

From the Memory Alpha wiki:

He did not require sustenance, but occasionally ingested semi-organic nutrient suspension in a silicon-based liquid medium to lubricate his biofunctions. (TNG: "Deja Q") Though capable of consuming more traditional food and drink, Data had no sense of taste and therefore tended not to bother eating. (TNG: "Hero Worship")

So, you could probably derive some of the organic components from bananas, but generally no. He's not really banana-powered.

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