Physicists trap a single antimatter particle for a month

(scientificamerican.com)

72 points | by mooreds 2 days ago

7 comments

  • bozdemir 2 hours ago
    That's matter cruelty. We need more ethical ways to study those poor things. Does anyone know what happened after the experiment ? Did they finally let it go?
    • tomaskafka 13 minutes ago
      It was given freedom at the end of experiment, and was immediately eaten by its abundant natural predator, just like it happens in nature.
    • gcascio 1 hour ago
      Matter rights matter.
      • Scarblac 1 hour ago
        But antimatter rights antimatter? Or do they become lefts.
    • saidnooneever 53 minutes ago
      I sure hope it doesnt come back for revenge damn
    • consensus1 2 hours ago
      It's worse than that. They annihilated it completely.
      • mixtureoftakes 1 hour ago
        Drawing the line at matter welfare when the world still has this much human suffering will never stop being wild to me
        • pelagicAustral 1 hour ago
          Definitely a matter of perspective.
        • saidnooneever 53 minutes ago
          humans are also matter
          • ta8903 46 minutes ago
            But some humans are more matter than the others.
            • greenchair 34 minutes ago
              They have a pill that can help with that now.
          • whoanoway 20 minutes ago
            [dead]
    • exe34 1 hour ago
      I was going to comment "I bet it's pissed" and then worried about drawing dang on myself, but you started it... Also: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1254917172263794.

      "Wild? I was absolutely livid!"

  • androiddrew 21 minutes ago
    I kind of want to know how they safely deal with its release (destruction)
    • Retr0id 10 minutes ago
      If it's a single particle I don't think there's much to worry about?
    • SwellJoe 9 minutes ago
      It's one particle. It's not a bomb.
  • dguest 2 hours ago
    Direct link to article: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.08147
  • DoctorOetker 1 hour ago
    whats up with all the comments making analogies with AI torture repository?

    One might measure the "amount of computation going on" as a proxy for consciousness, but "number of dissipative logic gates" can't be right since one can construct larger reversible circuits containing the same computation (and hence dissipation is a poor measure), although one could then use the total number of bits (including trash bits) as the measure.

    but I don't understand why particle physics?

    having all other comments (at the time of writing) be about consciousness of individual particles, seems to indicate these commenters specifically believe particle physics or antimatter to directly describe consciousness?

    Or is this some kind of "disinfo inoculation campaign" to render us immune to "sentient rights propaganda"?

    • KPGv2 1 hour ago
      I don't see comments on SI's website. I assume you mean here. Those are jokes.
  • jimnotgym 2 hours ago
    I hope they took precautions against the Camerlengo stealing it
    • ButlerianJihad 1 hour ago
      Positrons are just as Catholic as electrons: they both have the same mass!
  • snailshare 2 days ago
    Does this hurt the positron?
    • brenkc 3 hours ago
      Call PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Antimatter)
      • sirlancer 1 hour ago
        Physicists for the Ethical Treatment of Atoms
    • arj 2 hours ago
      Poor thing, all alone
      • Razengan 2 hours ago
        It could have been an entire universe, like ours, if some theories/cosmologies are correct :)
    • ggyyyg 2 hours ago
      [flagged]
  • pizzafeelsright 1 hour ago
    of course the cyclotron going clockwise.