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Scientists Create Di-positronium Molecules
doxology writes "The BBC reports that scientists have been able to create di-positronium molecules. A di-positronium molecule consists of two positronium atoms, exotic atoms which are made from an electron and a positron (the anti-particle of the electron). A potential use of these molecules is to make extremely powerful gamma-ray lasers, possibly on sharks."
Hey! You're supposed to let US make the jokes.
If you're going to include all the applicable memes in the blurb, there'll be nothing left for us to post about.
Err.. does anyone else wonder why specifically sharks?
should have read "extremely powerful gamma-ray frickin lasers"
If ever there was a topic which he could explain it would be this.
liqbase
Sweet, one step closer to me getting gamma-induced powers...HULK SMASH....
Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr. Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr. Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr. Evil: Oh well, that's a start.
From the end of the summary, the very end in fact:
[...],possibly on sharks Can the author of the news please elaborate? I just don't see how this discovery possibly relates to an undeservedly frowned upon species of fish...
'"It's like having a trickle of water filling up a bath and then you empty it out and you get a big flush," said Dr Cassidy.'
TFA fails to confirm whether or not this involved a series of tubes.
Well, I'm not sure if letting the military get their hands on it is such a good thing, but the use to initiate nuclear fusion could be the key to cleaner power for everyone. The hardest part of initiating fusion has been pouring enough energy in to start the reaction and allow it to become self-sustaining. This discovery might lead to technology capable of generating the necessary energy.
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
what would happen if Scotty reversed the polarity on those?
Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
A gamma-ray laser would certainly have many applications. Maybe the energy density is so high that it becomes irrelevant, but the problem that jumps out at me is that you really can't refract high-energy photons. About all you can do is stop them. I don't see this type of "laser" being used in most applications where you traditionally think lasers would be useful, since you wouldn't be able to easily focus these beams, guide them in fiber, or anything like that. The most useful thing you could do with this type of laser, I would guess, would be ablation--THAT it should be pretty darn good at.
Anyhow, it'll be interesting to see the radiometry for these lasers in however many years it'll take for them to be in a position where they can even think about that sort of thing. From that, you can figure out the dosimetry if you were to turn one onto a person. In this situation, a medical linac should be to this sort of thing what a flashlight is to a laser in terms of photon flux. When you're talking about gamma photons instead of visible ones, I imagine you could give someone a pretty serious radiation dose in pretty short order. From a military perspective I don't think that putting that in a hand-held weapon would exactly rival bullets (which are pretty good at disabling people quickly, something that radiation couldn't do reliably barring stupidly high doses over large areas of the brain or GI), especially considering the cost. Putting one on a satellite and blasting ICBMs in orbit, however, could be a very different story--you don't have nearly as much atmosphere to get through, and you ought to be able to put an awful lot more energy in that missile with similar fluxes of gamma photons versus lower-energy photons. The gammas would probably significantly penetrate the housing of the missile, too, which could be good or bad--bad in that it spreads out the heating effect you'd get, good in that you can significantly heat things that are behind a few layers of metal.
Come to think of it, considering that medical linacs have caused serious burns (and then death from ARS) in the past, turning a gamma laser on someone would probably basically burn right through them--so maybe dosimetry really isn't an issue (for the target--for the operators, on the other hand...)
Anyhow, that's way in the future. For now, all we have are jokes about sharks that can turn people into the Hulk from ten meters.
oh yes... that'll do them sharks.
Gamma-ray annihilation lasers!!! Oh yeah baby! Who says scientists can't think of cool names?!
First: "gamma-ray annihilation lasers". Say it out loud. I just want you to take in how immensely cool that sounds.
Second, might these be the trick to powering Space Elevators? Admittedly materials is still the bigger problem there, but beaming power to the platform was always part of the master plan.
I read the article and I still don't get it. How can these positronium atoms possibly be stable? TFA says that they've "merged an electron and a positron", which is impossible, because when the electron and the positron touch, there's a relatively large explosion.
... one of the particles has to be orbiting the other, like a regular atom. But wouldn't it blow up just the same if, say, a stray cosmic ray or a neutrino or something were to smack the nucleus? IIRC, photons are more like normal matter than antimatter.
So
Any particle physicists in the house who want to enlighten us?
"These short-lived, hydrogen-like atoms consist of an electron and a positron, a positively charged antiparticle." I would think that an anti-proton and a positron (anti-electron) would be a "hydrogen-like atom." Why is the mating of an electron and an anti-electron considered an "atom?" And what force is keeping them from just annihilating each other? Why do they hook up and hang out, even for a brief time? I read about this on fark and got confused but came here to ask. So please, smart people of Slashdot, explain this to me.
So positronium is an atom composed of an electron and a positron. Is this then an atom without a nucleus?
Weird.
Happy people make bad consumers.
Although dipositronium (Ps2) is considered to be a huge advance, scientists will be disappointed to discover that tripositronium (Ps3) will never be as popular as tungsten-diiodide (WII).
Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom.
Until they can make di-lithium crystals.
What kind of a name is di-positronium? Shouldn't it be called anti-helium?
That's only dangerous if you're in the ocean, what about if you're on land huh? What then!?
"It's like having a trickle of water filling up a bath and then you empty it out and you get a big flush," said Dr Cassidy.
...you do not want to go in there...it is like a giant gamma ray burst...
Now Data can use the bathroom.
Full Tilt
when i get my positronic brain.
... how quaint
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Forgive my ignorance but isn't a gamma ray pretty hard to shield against and focus, or was that some other form of radiation? It would seem to me making a focused beam of radiation would require very toxic materials for reflecting, and some radiation waves penetrate most anything.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Just in case no one has yet, I propose the acronym GRAIL: Gamma Ray AnnihIlation Laser. Sounds like they've been seeking it for a while, too...
I was creating di-positronium molecules almost 25 years ago on my Atari 2600
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you.
Dr. Peter Venkman: What?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?
Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad.
Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm a little fuzzy on the whole "good/bad" thing here! What do you mean "bad"?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Dr. Ray Stantz: Total protonic reversal!
Dr. Peter Venkman: That's bad. Okay. All right, important safety tip, thanks Egon.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
Assuming the weapon worked, wouldn't it be more dangerous to the one it is used on than the one who uses it?
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
Awesome!
Make that 124...
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Data's positronic matrix with a di-positronium matrix. Let's see if he notices....
Cheap shot on Islamic Extremists: (-1, Troll)
Cheap shot on Christian Extremists: (+5, Insightful)
Not sure which is worse, getting your buildings blown up or having extremist take over politics and your government and all your institutions. What about things that aren't cheap shots, like real zingers?
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
No, no, no, the lasers go on seabass, not sharks.
Ill-tempered seabass.
If you open your mind too wide, people will throw trash in it.
I for one call bullshit, the opposite particle of an electron would be the proton, an atom containing one proton and one electron would be a hydrogen atom, to such atoms conected together would be h2 a.k.a an average hydrogen molecule,
dont lasers diverge at less than inverse square rates, so is it meaningful saying its 30degrees angular? the minimum size of the neck is a function of the aperture right? i think it might be different for the higher order modes too.
then youve got 'squeezed light' which can get the focal point even smaller
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satellite uplink, _BLING_