Antimatter, It sounds like something from science fiction. Movies show it as a mysterious and potentially deadly substance for immense destruction. What exactly is antimatter, and is antimatter dangerous as people claim?
It simply means antimatter is the opposite of regular matter. All matter particles have an antimatter particle of the same mass but an opposite charge. For instance, the one that is the antimatter equivalent of an electron is called a positron with a positive charge. When matter meets antimatter, they destroy each other and produce energy. That is why antimatter is both fascinating and potentially dangerous. In this article, we will know if is antimatter dangerous how much is it dangerous?
Table of Contents
How Antimatter Works
The Dangers of Antimatter
Energy Release
The main danger of antimatter is the energy of annihilation. The result of coming into contact with matter, however, is a powerful explosion, if a small amount of antimatter were to come into contact with matter. A small amount could wreak havoc.
For example, if antimatter and matter bumped into each other just one milligram to one milligram. The explosion created would be equivalent to thousands of kilograms of TNT. 'It shows how powerful antimatter can be, and how dangerous it is if you don't handle it properly,' said Major Seifert.
Radiation
When matter and antimatter collide and annihilate, they produce gamma rays. Gamma rays are a form of radiation, and their effect is harmful to living things. At high levels of gamma radiation, it can cause serious health problems by damaging cells. That means that if such large quantities of antimatter were used, the radiation produced would be dangerous to both people and the environment.
Can Antimatter Be Weaponized?
Some people are worried that antimatter poses too big a risk of releasing a lot of energy in a weapon. A nuclear bomb is ten times more powerful in theory than an antimatter bomb. However, there are many obstacles to building such a weapon.
First, making antimatter is expensive and very difficult. Even a tiny amount of antimatter needs a lot of energy to make, and it would cost trillions of dollars to produce one gram of antimatter. Safely storing antimatter is also an enormous problem since it needs to be insulated from all matter, including the container in which it resides. It turns out, then, that the idea of antimatter weapons is not much of a threat after all.
Antimatter Safety Measures
Special ways have been developed for the safe handling of antimatter by scientists. Antimatter cannot come into contact with any matter, so it is stored in magnetic traps. Magnetic fields are used to suspend antimatter particles in space, out of the way of the walls of the container, in these traps. If the antimatter touches a container, it explodes. This prevents it from doing so.
Despite these safety measures it is possible to produce and store very small amounts of antimatter. Doesn’t yet exist in the technology to produce and store the large quantities needed.
Current Uses of Antimatter
It can be used in medicine today, despite these dangers, as antimatter has some practical uses. Positron Emission Tomography (PET scans) is one of the most common uses. A small amount of a substance containing positrons (positron emitters) is injected in a PET scan. Then, the positrons interact with the electrons in the body forming energy that helps create detailed images of the organs. PET scans find diseases such as cancer or study how organs work.
Because the amounts used in PET scans are so small, the risks are minimal. But, the obstacles to producing and safely storing antimatter are vast, and its potential for large-scale use is also far off.
Is Antimatter Dangerous?
So, is antimatter dangerous? Yes, and it’s not straightforward. The very fact that antimatter is so destructive when it meets matter means that it is extremely dangerous. A small amount could lead to a very heavy blast and the radiation produced could endanger people and the environment.
But the truth is it's not easy to make antimatter. Scientists can only create today’s quantities and are heavily regulated to handle those quantities. It's hard to imagine antimatter as a weapon, as the expense and obstacles to technology are high.
Scientists are throwing fuel into the tank of now-fascinating work in the area of antimatter. The applications are really practical; they could be put to use in medical imaging but if we find a way to make and store them. It safely there may be more utilities in the future. For now, such dangers are mostly theoretical; they are held at bay by the limits of our current technology.
Antimatter is powerful, and it’s dangerous, but it won’t be the downfall of our everyday lives. While scientists continue to carefully research the possibilities of antimatter with safety measures in place, their exploration is still far from being a reality.