RE: When Elena met Isolde, aka the antimatter CERN tour on the back of a puma
This post got me thinking...Well, firstly it reminded my of my own physics classes in school, but also reminded me of the Dan Brown "Angels & Demons", including the search for the anti matter bomb exploding at the end, but after a helicopter took the anti-matter bomb away from the Vatican and main land, more or less.
Although Dan Brown mixes science in truth in his stories, he also mixes untruths in his stories. I think the untrue element in your article is similar to the one of Dan Brown, the time we can store anti matter. Oops, the time of storing was not in the article but in one of your comments/reactions. Ok, that must by right then.
What about this statement you made: "The details can however be unraveled by studying the annihilation of the protons and the neutrons inside these nuclei, and such an annihilation process can be induced by antiprotons."
Yes, an antiproton may be able to induce an annihilation process of a proton/neutron nuclei, but the neutron will still be there after the annihilation since the antiproton acts only to the proton. But that said, I don't think the 'stupid' information part is hidden in here.
Love your statement "One small step for man, one giant leap for our understanding of the nature of nuclear matter!" This, and the Elena/Isolde as well as PUMA naming shows also scientists have humour! :)
I recommend to check the results of the BASE experiment. They manage to trap antiprotons during more than a year, without loosing any single antiparticle. But this of course requires a special apparatus, and storing antimatter where it has been produced is a totally different story than transporting it.
See here for more information for the BASE experiment results (tagging @greenrun as he may also be interested by this article).
Let's say that the antiproton may scatter with the nuclear structure, which may lead to the emission of extra particles, change the nuclear equilibrium, etc... There are plenty of models on the market trying to explain that (I could quote a few names but I am not sure you really want to check them all :p).
One very interesting point is that it is been experimentally observed, already more than 20 years ago, that antiprotons induce a too large neutron production in the nuclei
I hope this clarifies without being too technical at the same time.
One should never underestimate physicists' jokes :D
PS: I am not a big fan of Dan Brown at all. I had to read his book a while ago for a science cafe (mainly aiming to clarify the unclear and inexact points in it).
Thanks for your solid comment, I'll check the given links later today!
Dan Brown: I remember all the conversations I was in when this Da Vinci Code book became a huge success! Most of the people who have read that book, thought everything on the science side was true. Dan Brown achieved two things that are good imho: 1) entertainment for those who like to read but not too much limited by imagination 2) expose the mass to science. The later is important since less and less people decide to study beta type of topics, while the future will be more and more about beta topics with all the technology we are and will be creating to automate the world to such levels we as humans - at some point in time - don't have to work anymore.
Still wondering about the error in your post. When will you inform us?
Yeah, Dan Brown triggered a lot of activities with the public. And for that, we must thank him :)
PS: Which error are you talking about? I don't see any.
Oww sorry, you didn't say 'error' but 'stupid' :)
Yes, there is indeed a stupidity somewhere.
Hint: check the references (and some of the other comments) ;)
Thanks @lemouth, it was an entertaining read. The successful trapping of the antiprotons for so long is really innovative. I watched the movie, The Davinci Code, the book was one I'm yet to get my hands on. @edje, which error are referring to?