Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons
Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order
The U.S. Air Force is quietly spending millions of dollars investigating ways to use a radical power source -- antimatter, the eerie "mirror" of ordinary matter -- in future weapons.
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.
During the Cold War, the Air Force funded numerous scientific studies of the basic physics of antimatter. With the knowledge gained, some Air Force insiders are beginning to think seriously about potential military uses -- for example, antimatter bombs small enough to hold in one's hand, and antimatter engines for 24/7 surveillance aircraft.
More cataclysmic possible uses include a new generation of super weapons -- either pure antimatter bombs or antimatter-triggered nuclear weapons; the former wouldn't emit radioactive fallout. Another possibility is antimatter- powered "electromagnetic pulse" weapons that could fry an enemy's electric power grid and communications networks, leaving him literally in the dark and unable to operate his society and armed forces.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NGM393GPK1.DTL
for more specific information about "antimatter" and it's vagaries in a fictional environment, please read "angels & demons" by dan brown
if a person slaps you, show your other cheek but do not walk away. stand your ground if it is your right to be standing
This excites me. Not because of the prospect of weapon use, but of antimatter being used in general.
I guess the Star Trek geek in me is talking right now.
“Workingmen of Europe feel sure as the American War of Independence initiated a new era of ascendancy for the middle class, so the American Antislavery War will do for the working classes.” - Karl Marx
OMG anti-matter as a weapon would be insane.
like a gram of it could blow up the earth.
to bad we have only made like 1/10000 of a gram if the stuff
I like this part of the story........
Besides, Lynn is enthusiastic about antimatter because he believes it could propel futuristic space rockets.
"I think," he said, "we need to get off this planet, because I'm afraid we're going to destroy it."
So basically, anti-matter weapons are good, because we'll use it to blow ourselves up thereby making us need to make spaceships faster? The author must be a scientologist......... :-)
all i can say is "wow."
If something goes wrong, I blame Tom Cruise!
dammit jim, the damn thing is gonna blow!
Protest long enough that you are right, and you will be wrong
this cant be good. the air force is out of its mind. yeah so we created antimatter.....now what? can we use it?......i certainly hope they dont, or we're f'd.
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