The Possibilities and Limitations of
Antimatter
Although no lab has produced as large of a quantity of antimatter as
had CERN in Angels and Demons,
physicists have made antimatter in very very very small amounts.
Producing antimatter in a lab requires enormous amounts of energy and
expense. It would cost $100 quadrillion to make 1 gram of
antimatter (Kaku 2008). To date, there is not even remotely
enough
human-produced antimatter on earth to make a bomb, the way antimatter
was used in the book. If one did exist; however, it would convert
ALL of its mass to energy. Half of that energy would be explosive
energy and half would be released in neutrinos, which are undetectable
particles (Kaku 2008). The atomic bomb is only about 1%
efficient, so only a
small amount of antimatter would be necessary to cause greater
explosion.
Some scientists wonder about the possibility of obtaining some
antimatter that exists in space and using it to fuel a rocket for
future space exploration (Dooling 1999). Recent
technological developments have allowed antimatter to be useful in PET
scans (CERN, Angels and Demons 2008).
Artist's rendition of a theoretical antimatter-powered rocket.
Go to The Production and Storage of Antimatter
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