CERN Transports Antiprotons in Truck Successfully

Scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva, Switzerland, achieved a world-first on Tuesday by successfully transporting a small sample of antiprotons in a truck across the laboratory's campus. The delicate operation involved moving about 100 antiprotons, suspended in a vacuum within a portable cryogenic trap, for approximately 20 minutes without any loss of the particles.

The test, conducted by the BASE experiment team, marked a key milestone in efforts to enable the on-demand delivery of antimatter to research facilities across Europe. Antiprotons, the antimatter counterparts to protons with opposite charge, annihilate upon contact with ordinary matter, releasing energy. To prevent this, the particles were contained in a 1,000-kilogram apparatus called the BASESTEP trap, featuring superconducting magnets cooled to minus 269 degrees Celsius using liquid helium. The trap, compact enough to fit through standard lab doors and onto a truck, uses magnetic and electric fields to keep the antiprotons isolated from the container's walls.

The process began with accumulating 92 antiprotons in the trap at CERN's Antimatter Factory, the world's only...