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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Upping the 'Anti'"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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ANTIMATTER--THE POWER OF POSITRON THINKING... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. SCIENTISTS ALREADY KNOW THE MOST-EFFICIENT ENERGY SOURCE THAT THERE IS: IT'S 100-PERCENT EFFICIENT, AND PRODUCES NO WASTE--RADIOACTIVE OR OTHERWISE; WE CAN ALREADY MAKE IT--BUT WE JUST HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY CONTAIN IT. IT'S ANTIMATTER. WHEN MATTER COMES TOGETHER WITH ANTIMATTER, YOU GET A PURE ENERGY BURST. TWO PHYSICISTS AT WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY ARE CONFIDENT THAT WE CAN HARNESS ONE KIND OF ANTIMATTER--THE POSITRON--AND THAT WE CAN MAKE THE PROCESS PORTABLE. THE TWO WERE CHALLENGED BY THE U-S AIR FORCE TO COME UP WITH A WAY TO TRAP POSITRONS--WHICH CONVENTIONAL SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE HAS GENERALLY REGARDED AS BEING IMPOSSIBLE. THAT'S BECAUSE THE POSITRONS REPEL EACH OTHER--SO YOU'D USE MORE ENERGY CONTAINING THEM THAN THEY'D PRODUCE. AFTER SOME UNSUCCESSFUL TRIALS, THE SCIENTISTS HAD AN EPIPHANY: THAT THEY SHOULDN'T CONTAIN ALL THE POSITRONS IN ONE SPACE; INSTEAD, THEY SHOULD CREATE A CONTAINED SPACE FOR EACH POSITRON--AND PUT THEM SIDE-BY-SIDE, IN A LONG VACUUM TUBE. THE TWO HAVE NOW BUILT A PROTOTYPE THAT'S ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SODA CAN--AND THAT HOLDS ABOUT 10-THOUSAND INDIVIDUAL SPACES FOR POSITRONS. THEY'RE WORKING ON LARGER NUMBERS--AND AT LEAST A 10-DAY SHELF-LIFE. FROM POWERING DEEP-SPACE PROBES, TO MORE-EARTHLY APPLICATIONS, PORTABLE ANTIMATTER MAY BE A REALITY WITHIN OUR LIFETIME. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
