New clue to anti-matter mystery

[Elmore Furth]

Source: BBC

Anti-matter is rare today; it can be produced in "atom smashers", in nuclear reactions or by cosmic rays.

A US-based physics experiment has found a clue as to why the world around us is composed of normal matter and not its shadowy opposite: anti-matter.

Researchers working on the DZero experiment observed collisions of protons and anti-protons ... results show a 1% difference in the production of pairs of muon (matter) particles and pairs of anti-muons (anti-matter particles) in these high-energy collisions.

The dominance of matter in the Universe is possible only if there are differences in the behaviour of particles and anti-particles.




Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10124360.stm

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I know this is geeky but it sure is cool.

[xchrom]

1. Fascinating - I wish I really understood it. Nt

[gateley]

5. I'm with you -- I find this stuff riveting, but don't really get it.

[damntexdem]

2. Does this have anything to do with Bristol Palin's speaking tour?

;-)

[CLANG]

3. Bristol will be speaking in-depth on the topic. But, you probably wouldn't understand.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:
Liberal use of the sarcasm smiley is never improper.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Or Ms Palin's bristols come to that

you might need to be english to grasp that.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Somehow, I doubt she's nicknamed them 'matter' and 'antimatter'

'pinky' and 'perky' would be more her level.

[dipsydoodle]

13. lol.

:rofl:

[Nihil]

19. Oh goody ...

> 'pinky' and 'perky' would be more her level.

... coffee in the keyboard again ...
:spray:
:spank:

[Javaman]

20. You are confusing anti-matter with...doesn't-matter.

:rofl:

[Soylent Brice]

4. K&R

[Old Troop]

6. Is it only in SF that matter and anti-matter anihilate each other?

[Ian David]

7. No. That happens for real. But there's no such thing as dilithium crystals. n/t

[Speck Tater]

8. Nope. It also does so in Cleveland. nt

[metapunditedgy]

10. Why isn't stuff like this touted as huge supporting evidence of the Big Bang model?

How else would extremely small-scale physics match up to the universe properties (excess of matter) over cosmic scales?

[whoneedstickets]

16. Exactly!

...a gigantic explosion of equal volumes of matter and anti-matter but 1% is converted into our universe. cool....

[AlbertCat]

17. I love how it's IMperfection, not perfection, that is why anything at all is here.

A little lopsidedness make matter even happen. Lumpy distribution allows gravity to do its thing.

Not very "perfect-universe-made-for-us", is t?

[metapunditedgy]

18. I prefer to think of it as "asymmetry is the new perfection."

Perfect symmetry is boring even aesthetically.

[Ramulux]

11. Proof of Baryogenesis

This is a pretty important discovery

[lob1]

14. Who's Barry Genesis?

[lob1]

15. Dupe. Sorry

[OneBlueSky]

21. this hurts my admittedly meager brain . . . I can't seem to get a handle . . .

on the notion of anti-matter . . . matter I understand . . . it's opposite leaves me with a bewildered cloud over my head . . . anyone care to try to explain it in layman's terms (if that's even possible)? . . .