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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> September
> September 10, 1999:
Hour Two: Antimatter
One thing that children are taught in science class is that all "stuff" is made of matter. But that's not quite true. All of the common stuff around us, from the air we breathe to the computers we surf the web with, is made of matter - but that's not everything in the universe. | In the beginning, scientists think, the big bang created both matter and antimatter. Every particle in atoms - from protons and electrons to the tinier quarks that make up those particles - has a corresponding antiparticle. Much of the original antimatter annihilated itself when it collided with ordinary matter, releasing energy. But somewhere out there lurk wandering patches of antimatter. Some astronomers are trying to spot it - and some physicists are trying to use earthbound machinery to make their own antimatter particles. | 
Astronomers say this is a "cloud of
antimatter" near the center of the galaxy.
(W. Purcell (NWU) and
NASA's Compton Observatory) | Scientists working at CERN have managed to create atoms of anti-hydrogen. A project at Stanford, called the "B Factory" is trying to churn out more anti-particles. And scientists on all sides are looking for information about what they call "CP violation" - the fact that for some reason, the universe seems to contain more matter than antimatter.
Why does antimatter matter? We'll find out on this hour of Science Friday.
Guests:
James Cronin
Professor Emeritus and Nobel Laureate
Departments of Physics, and Astronomy and Astrophysics
Enrico Fermi Institute
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Michael Turner
Chairman, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Professor, Enrico Fermi Institute
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Jonathan Dorfan
Director, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Gerald Gabrielse
Professor, Physics
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
CERN
Status of Antimatter
Antimatter
- What anti-matter is, how it is made and how it is detected.
FIRST ATOMS OF ANTIMATTER PRODUCED AT CERN
APOD: May 1, 1997 - A Galactic Cloud of Antimatter
Antimatter Space Propulsion at Penn State University
The Particle Adventure
- This segment produced by:
Tom Clarke
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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