Should antimatter be used as weaponry or as a simple study subject?
"The most powerful potential energy source presently thought to be available to humanity, antimatter is a term normally heard in science-fiction films and TV shows, whose heroes fly "antimatter-powered spaceships" and do battle with "antimatter guns."
But antimatter itself isn't fiction; it actually exists and has been intensively studied by physicists since the 1930s. In a sense, matter and antimatter are the yin and yang of reality: Every type of subatomic particle has its antimatter counterpart. But when matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate each other in an immense burst of energy. " (AntiMatter Weapons)
"Unlike regular nuclear bombs, positron bombs wouldn''t eject plumes of radioactive debris. When large numbers of positrons and antielectrons collide, the primary product is an invisible but extremely dangerous burst of gamma radiation. This can kill a large number of soldiers without touching the civilian population." (Anti-matter weapon systems million times more powerful than nukes - reverse engineering extraterrestrial technologies)
Well... ideas???
But antimatter itself isn't fiction; it actually exists and has been intensively studied by physicists since the 1930s. In a sense, matter and antimatter are the yin and yang of reality: Every type of subatomic particle has its antimatter counterpart. But when matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate each other in an immense burst of energy. " (AntiMatter Weapons)
"Unlike regular nuclear bombs, positron bombs wouldn''t eject plumes of radioactive debris. When large numbers of positrons and antielectrons collide, the primary product is an invisible but extremely dangerous burst of gamma radiation. This can kill a large number of soldiers without touching the civilian population." (Anti-matter weapon systems million times more powerful than nukes - reverse engineering extraterrestrial technologies)
Well... ideas???
Tags: antimatter, elementary, particles
Views: 8
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shravan Motipally on -
The point that I am trying to make is that there are still people who want power for their nations. I just don't have a clue as to how I can even stop those secret groups. I mean... if the US and/or USSR try to develop antimatter weaponry, then the consequences would be severe. One of the main ones include these weapons ending up in the hands of the terrorists and then basically they are play hiroshima and nagasaki with us.
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Permalink Reply by Nate Bernardo on -
Antimatter is bad for your health. So are GN particles. oh and dylithium crystals.
WMD = weapons for cowards that hide behind concrete. just like subs are cowardly.
NO ON ANTIMATTER! YES ON WORLD PEACE. =P -
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Permalink Reply by Andrew P.M English on -
just for study... but even then, someone will steal it or something and use it for destruction before we can even find a good purpose for it.
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Permalink Reply by [revving intensifies] on -
No... just no. If anti-matter was used as weaponry than that would be disastrous. A sudden and large burst of Gamma radiation would be worse than anything we can currently produce. And I know you don't wanna hear that say... Korea was wiped off the map by a single anti-matter weapon. It would destroy both Soldier and Civilian alike. Radiation doesn't make distinctions.
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Permalink Reply by Jason on -
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Anti-matter is horribly powerful. A single annihilation reaction between an electron and a positron (just as an example) produces 16.4 picojoules of energy. This doesn't sound like a lot, but that's for a SINGLE electron and a SINGLE positron. That's a lot of energy for two elementary particles.
Add to that the fact that antimatter is highly unstable and very difficult to contain, and you just get a big fat NO -
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