How did they do it? They worked on a new system that would cloud the antihydrogen in a magnetic trap. New Scientist says:
The ALPHA team want to keep antimatter intact long enough to study it, so last year they worked out how to hold a cloud of antihydrogen in a magnetic trap. Not for long, though: collisions with trace gases would have either annihilated the anti-atoms or given them the energy to escape, so the team opened the trap after 170 milliseconds and observed the resulting annihilations, verifying that antimatter had been made.
This time around, they used the same method but also cooled the antiprotons used to create the antihydrogen, which lowered the energy of the antimatter,but increased the chance that more could be collected. The eventual goal is to understand antimatter—is it an exact mirror image of matter? How does it move? Scientists have a chance to finally find out. [New Scientist via PopSci]
Bill
Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 4:52 AMThis is extraordinary but is receiving so little press. 16 minutes! The experiments to follow will no doubt be groundbreaking.
The stuff coming out of CERN every day is exciting and though I understand very little of it, I get a feel for the potential advances that will flow directly from their work.
Nodeity
Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 8:43 AMDid someone say warp factor 7, make it so… :)
Penmonicus
Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 12:08 PMAre the just going to accidentally make a black hole and wipe us all out without anyone knowing what’s happening?
Mason
Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 5:44 PMIf you don’t understand the science behind it, don’t talk to me about how it’s going to destroy Earth, there isn’t enough energy or matter to start the chain reaction necessary for a black hole
Nodeity
Friday, May 6, 2011 at 7:28 AMDude, you don’t think the guy might be joking!! :)