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New Accelerator Technique Doubles Particle Energy

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the double-your-pleasure dept.

ZonkerWilliam writes "Plasma wake particle accelerators are making surprisingly quick advances. It was a just a little while ago we had GeV acceleration in 3cm. Now they are capable of doubling the energy of electrons. 'Imagine a car that accelerates from zero to sixty in 250 feet, and then rockets to 120 miles per hour in just one more inch. That's essentially what a collaboration of accelerator physicists has accomplished, using electrons for their race cars and plasma for the afterburners. Because electrons already travel at near light's speed in an accelerator, the physicists actually doubled the energy of the electrons, not their speed.'"

2 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Bah! by jcr · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    In my day, we just banged rocks together! And we were grateful!

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  2. Uber fast cars? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    If a car could accelerate that fast then we couldn't control it on ground, and it wouldn't be fun at all to let the PC drive. :)

    Check this out: http://www.burzs.com/edit/arg.php?id=14921