Anti-Matter Belt Discovered Around Earth

hydrofix writes "A thin band of antiprotons enveloping the Earth has been spotted for the first time. The find, described in Astrophysical Journal Letters [arXiv] (Note: abstract free, full text paywalled), confirms theoretical work that predicted the Earth's magnetic field could trap antimatter. The antiprotons were spotted by the Pamela satellite launched in 2006 to study the nature of high-energy particles from the Sun and cosmic rays. Aside from confirming theoretical work that had long predicted the existence of these antimatter bands, the particles could also prove to be a novel fuel source for future spacecraft — an idea explored in a report for NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts."

Comments

Re:Advances in propulsion technology

[Midnight Thunder]

Stop being naive. The civilian research projects will all have been cut, the USA will have single A credit rating and the super rich will be paying no taxes. ;)

Hopefully it won't get that bad, but more and more it looks like it will be Russia and China getting us to Mars. The European Union may be able to make it, but it isn't really fairing much better than the USA. As for other countries, well they either don't have the budget for manned space flight or the incentive.

I want to see human space flight getting us to Mars, or even to the moon, but spacecraft need to evolve a fair bit before it becomes feasible.

Re:antimatter

[cavreader]

You couldn't be more wrong. The Internet is a marvelous construct that provides many benefits but it's most prolific and growing contribution today is providing the tools to promote rampant disinformation, historical revisionism, animosity, and out right hate. There exists a sizable majority who believe everything they read on the Internet and the anonymity of the the web makes manipulating these people is easy and cheap when compared against other methods indoctrinating public opinion. And please elaborate on this increase in peace throughout the world. I can only hope your comment was intended as a troll because I have a hard time accepting someone who could be that stupid.