---
title: "10 Strange Physics Facts about Antimatter"
description: "While primordial antimatter has yet to be observed in the universe, we have been able to create antiparticles in particle accelerator labs, giving us some insights into this otherwise mysterious substance."
date: "2015-07-11"
modified: "2017-06-22"
authors:
  - name: "Sarah Marquart"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/sarah_fqtq"
url: "https://futurism.com/10-strange-physics-facts-antimatter"
categories:
  - "Physics"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Antimatter"
  - "big bang"
  - "cern"
  - "positrons"
---

# 10 Strange Physics Facts about Antimatter

![antimatter positrons supernova milky way](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Scientists-May-Have-Solved-A-40-Year-Old-Antimatter-Mystery.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050601.html" target="\_blank"\>NASA\</a\>\</em\>*

## What Is Antimatter?

[Antimatter](<https://www.livescience.com/32387-what-is-antimatter.html>) is not just the fictional fuel powering the Enterprise during its journeys on *Star Trek.* Quite the contrary, [antimatter](<https://futurism.com/strange-science-the-story-of-antimatter>) is something that scientists are currently utilizing. In fact, antihydrogen was created in 1995 (although [it didn’t last long](<http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2014/01/antimatter-experiment-produces-first-beam-antihydrogen>)).

Antimatter, simply, is matter with its electrical charge reversed. For example, antiprotons are like protons but with a negative charge.

[Primordial antimatter](<https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/photos08-160.html>) has yet to be observed in the universe, but antiparticles are being created in particle accelerator labs. They can even be trapped and stored for weeks at a time. For example, positrons (a type of antiparticle) are now being produced for numerous studies thanks to [CERN](<http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/antimatter>).

https://youtu.be/3ZWqQciAQlU

But [storing antimatter](<http://alpha.web.cern.ch/penningtrap>) can be challenging. Upon meeting, matter and antimatter annihilate one another, leaving behind other subatomic particles. This process results in an explosion that emits pure radiation traveling at the speed of light. It's important, then, to keep antimatter away from ordinary matter. In hydrogen's case, scientists take advantage of antihydrogen's magnetic properties to trap them long enough to study them.

## Antimatter Fun Facts

While we don't [know everything about antimatter](<https://what-if.xkcd.com/114/>), we have learned quite a bit so far, including these 10 fun facts.

- Antimatter responds to gravity the same as normal matter (it does not repel material). As was noted, antimatter and matter particles have the same mass but differ in properties, like electric charge and spin. The Standard Model predicts that gravity *should* have the same effect on matter and antimatter, and we have no real reason to believe otherwise.
- It would cost us $100 billion to create one milligram of antimatter (the minimum amount needed for large-scale applications, like power or propulsion).
- Scientists may have discovered a particle that is [both matter *and* antimatter](<https://futurism.com/new-particle-matter-antimatter-majorana-fermion>).
- The Big Bang *should* have created antimatter and matter in equal amounts. If that had been so, everything would have been destroyed in, well, a *bigger* bang. As far as scientists know, there must have been one extra matter particle for every billion matter-antimatter pairs. Physicists are still [trying to understand](<https://futurism.com/higgs-boson-connectedntimatter-mystery>) why the universe didn't annihilate itself and why this [asymmetry](<https://futurism.com/introduction-to-the-anti-matter-mystery>) exists.

![10 Strange Physics Facts about Antimatter](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/galaxy1-1200x750.jpg>)
*Image Credit: NASA *Image: NASA**

- Bananas produce antimatter ([one positron every 75 minutes](<http://web.archive.org/web/20090805014739/http://tertiarysource.net/ts.cgi/anti-banana>)). Yes, you can still safely eat bananas. They're only [a little radioactive](<http://chemistry.about.com/b/2011/07/10/bananas-are-radioactive.htm>).
- You could be producing [positrons](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjuZSvZukAw>) right now. Don't worry though. They don't survive long enough to react with ordinary matter and become dangerous.
- If all the antimatter ever made by humans were annihilated at once, the energy produced wouldn’t even be enough [to boil a cup of tea](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327246-600-13-more-things-antimatter-mystery/>).
- However, in 2009, antimatter triggered the [largest explosion](<http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/04/antimatter-supernova-the-largest-explosion-ever-recorded-----------------weve-recently-seen-the-largest-explosion-ever-recor.html>) ever recorded in the known universe.
- In 1964, physicists found that the weak force is not quite symmetrical in its dealings with matter and antimatter, resulting in something known as "[CP violation](<http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19740077623>)."
- A mirror antimatter universe [could exist](<https://futurism.com/questions-on-anti-matter>), in theory. Many fictional movies, books, comics, etc. deal with this concept. The Justice League's Evil Counterpart, the [Crime Syndicate](<http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Antimatter>), for example, comes from an antimatter universe.

### Author social links  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/sarah.marquart>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-marquart-ba7aa38b>)  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/sagaofsarah>)