Fwd: Anti-Matter found in earth orbit

From: john.m.gardner

Antiquarks, two ups and a down.  You could also arrive at the necessary charge with three down quarks (charge -1/3), but then it wouldn't mass correctly and would not be an antimatter equivalent of the proton. 

 

Keep your dollar though, since I was reading about this stuff last night and it was fresh in mind. 

 

Collecting the stuff in orbit would be an interesting idea, though the cost to lift a penning trap into orbit would probably be prohibitive in terms of cost vs. benefit.  This does have interesting implications for space travel though, in terms of antimatter catalized fusion engines.  If antimatter is more common than previously thought, then it may be possible to scavange fuel en route per the old bussard ram-scoop idea.  Finding the stuff in orbit does tend to raise some eyebrows though. 

 

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/enginelist.php#id--Antiproton-initiated_Microfusion/Inertial_Confinement_Fusion

 

 

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From: Coston, Cory

I'll give you a dollar if you can tell me what quarks compose an anti-proton without looking it up.

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From: Trout, Larry


'PAMELA Spacecraft Finds a Belt of Antimatter Around the Earth'

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/theres-belt-antiprotons-around-earth

I wonder if we could collect the anti-matter and create energy from it.