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Fermilab Antimatter Lab to Hold Limited Tours

Posted by michael on from the no-free-samples dept.

chigun writes "Fermilab is shutting down its normal operations for maintenance for 9 weeks and during this time will be conducting tours of its facilities. The fact that they are the only people capable of producing antimatter is pretty cool as well."

9 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. Another anomaly! by jdawg · · Score: 2, Funny

    They better be careful, nothing causes a spacial anomaly like a leak in anti-matter containment aboard a good-sized starship.

  2. She's gunna blow captain by alatesystems · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd wait to go until I make sure they have a good Antimatter Containment Field.

    I wouldn't want to be on one of those episodes where they have to jettison the warp core.

    Chris

  3. If you can, GO! by Engineer-Poet · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have been through the CDF at Fermilab. It is an awe-inspiring experience to see a device, bigger than many houses, devoted to investigating the smallest and most fleeting events currently open to human inspection. The huge sliding shield doors which separate the beam line from the zones which are human-safe during operation will give you some idea of how big, and dangerous, small can be.

    --

    Sustainability and energy independence essay
  4. TOURS ARE FULL by hucke · · Score: 5, Informative


    The tours are full - no more registrations are being accepted.

    The answering machine on the phone number given in the Sun-Times article indicates that there is no more space available.

  5. The only people capable of producing antimatter? by Zutroy+Of+Earth · · Score: 2, Interesting

    > The fact that they are the only people capable of producing antimatter is pretty cool as well.

    Could you elaborate on that ? I mean, as was mentionned in the article, positrons are used daily in the numerous PET clinics all over the world. In fact, I'm using some for an experiment right now (indirectly of course, since I'm using F18, which decays by emitting a positron :) And it was all produced on site! Were you talking about direct production?

    I'll have to read more on that I guess :)

  6. Re:anti-matter everywhere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    The accepted definition of anti-matter is not anti-particles, its at least anti-hydrogen atoms. Cern only does anti-particles at present.

  7. Re:The only people capable of producing antimatter by erichill · · Score: 5, Informative
    CERN has been producing antihydrogen with their Antimater Factory. To be fair, Fermilab has been making antihydrogen too.

    Folks around the world have been producing antiparticles for quite some time. They're also created by natural processes, but don't last long in high matter density environments.

    --
    Credo sim. - I think I am.
  8. PPPL Family Fun Day by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 2, Informative

    I went to the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab Family Fun Day once. Really cool to tours the labs there. If you can go to one of these kinds of things I would highly recommend it.

  9. Re:anti-matter everywhere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wrong wrong wrong. I've worked with high energy physicists, have gone to lectures given by them, and have taken classes from them. The term antimatter as used by physicists, the only ones for whom this really matters, means any antiparticle, including positrons, antiprotons, anti-up-quarks, anti-bottom quarks, etc.

    When you're talking about mesons there are rather arbitrary definitions as to which are matter and which are antimatter, since all mesons are made of 1 quark and 1 antiquark. The B0 meson, for example, is made of 1 down quark and 1 anti-bottom quark. The anti B0 (B0 bar, to coin the phrase) is 1 anti-down and 1 bottom.