Abstract
In the Star Trek universe, the Enterprise’s warp engines are powered by the annihilation of deuterium (heavy hydrogen atoms in which the nucleus consists of a proton and neutron) and antideuterium. So-called dilithium crystals (an invented element, as opposed to two lithium atoms bonded together) control the reaction [1]. However, antimatter is also used as a weapon, for example in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Dreadnought”. The title refers to a Cardassian self-guided missile made of 100 kg each of matter and antimatter, said to be able to destroy a small moon. Non “Trekkers” may have first come across the term antimatter in Dan Brown’s novel Angels & Demons or Ron Howard’s film adaptation of the same name. In the novel father/daughter scientists the Vetras keep their antimatter experiments at CERN secret, citing safety concerns. Daughter Vittoria explains that while antimatter is an “important technology” that she hopes will ultimately provide limitless, pollution-free energy that could “save the planet”, it also has the potential to destroy the planet (in large enough quantities) [2].
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Again, if, you want to confirm for yourself, see http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/
- 3.
References
K. Tate, Warp drive & transporters: how ‘Star Trek’ technology works (infographic), Space.com, https://www.space.com/21201-star-trek-technology-explained-infographic.html
D. Brown, Angels & Demons (Pocket Books, New York, 2000), p. 105
D. Brown, Angels & Demons (Pocket Books, New York, 2000), p. 108
D. Brown, Angels & Demons (Pocket Books, New York, 2000)
F. Close, Antimatter (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009), p. 138
F. Close, Antimatter (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009), p. 144
L. Zyga, Physicists Scrutinize Antimatter in Angels & Demons, Physics.org, https://phys.org/news/2009-05-physicists-scrutinize-antimatter-angels-demons.html; Julie Steenhuysen, Scientists Debunk ‘Angels & Demons’ Antimatter, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-physics-movie/scientists-debunk-angels-and-demons-antimatter-idUSTRE54I76420090519; Erin McCarthy, Does Angels & Demons Get Antimatter Science Right?, Popular Mechanics, https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/movies/a4249/4317701/
Why does CERN study antimatter?, CERN, https://videos.cern.ch/record/1177161
Making antimatter, CERN, https://angelsanddemons.web.cern.ch/antimatter/making-antimatter
Can antimatter be used as an energy source?, CERN, https://angelsanddemons.web.cern.ch/faq/antimatter-to-create-energy
Does CERN conduct secret research?, CERN, https://angelsanddemons.web.cern.ch/faq/secret-research
Is it possible to make a bomb out of antimatter?, CERN, https://angelsanddemons.web.cern.ch/faq/bomb-from-antimatter
R. Jayawardhana, Neutrino Hunters (Scientific American, New York, 2013), p. 7
H. Bethe, R. Peierls, The ‘Neutrino’. Nature 133, 532 (1934)
J. Updike, Cosmic Gall, The New Yorker, 36, line 6 (1960)
R. Jayawardhana, Neutrino Hunters (Scientific American, New York, 2013), p. 125
L.M. Krauss, The Physics of Star Trek, Rev. edn. (Basic Books, New York, 2007), p. 207
A. Strickland, ‘Ghost particle’ found in Antarctica provides astronomy breakthrough, CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/12/world/neutrino-blazar-cosmic-ray-discovery/index.html
R. Highfield, The quest for dark matter, The Telegraph, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3340760/The-quest-for-dark-matter.html
D. Vebber (script), The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz, Futurama, season 3 (2001)
C. Golden, Shadow of Heaven (Pocket Books, New York, 2000), p. 255
K. Garrett, G. Duda, Dark matter: a primer, https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March10/Garrett/paper.pdf
L. Randall, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs (Ecco, New York, 2015), pp. 5–7; 55–6
K. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle (Dial Press, New York, 2010), p. 50
R.L. Jaffe, W. Busza, F. Wilczek, J. Sandweiss, Review of speculative ‘disaster scenarios’ at RHIC. Rev. Mod. Phys. 72(4), 1125–1140 (2000)
J.-P. Blaizot, J. Iliopoulos, J. Madsen, G.G. Ross, P. Sonderegger, H.-J. Specht, Study of potentially dangerous events during heavy-ion collisions at the LHC: report of the LHC Safety Study Group, CERN, https://cds.cern.ch/record/613175/files/CERN-2003-001.pdf; John Ellis, Gian Giudice, Michelangelo Mangano, Igor Tkachev, & Urs Wiedemann, Review of the safety of LHC collisions, Journal of Physics G, 35(11), 115004 (2008)
A. Brennert (script), Trouble with Harry, Odyssey 5, season 1 (2002)
A. Cho, Neutron stars’ quark matter not so strange. Science 360, 697 (2018)
P. Donovan (script), Little Blue Planet, Lexx, season 4 (2001)
L. Thompson, M. Mazur (dir.), Decay, H2ZZ Productions (2012)
D. Overbye, The collider, the particle and a theory about fate. The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/space/13lhc.htmlNYTimes.com
J. Ringo, Into the Looking Glass (Baen, Riverdale, 2007), p. 278
S. Soderbergh (dir.), Solaris, Twentieth Century Fox (2002)
S. Hawking, Foreword, in Starmus: 50 years of man in space, ed. by B. May, G. Israelian, (Short Run Press, Exeter, 2014), p. 6
R.L. Jaffe, W. Busza, F. Wilczek, J. Sandweiss, Review of speculative ‘disaster scenarios’ at RHIC. Rev. Mod. Phys. 72(4), 1130 (2000)
J. Leake, Hawking: god particle could destroy universe, The Times, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hawking-god-particle-could-destroy-universe-ds90zfkms3h
J. Ellis, CERN Colloquium: The LHC is Safe, CERN, http://cds.cern.ch/record/1120625?ln=en
A. Andreassen, W. Frost, M.D. Schwartz, Scale-invariant instantons and the complete lifetime of the standard model. Phys. Rev. D 97, 056006 (2018)
N. Lyon (dir.), Annihilation Earth, Syfy (2009)
R. Lieberman (dir.), Eve of Destruction, Reunion Pictures (2013)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Larsen, K. (2019). Pernicious Particles: Subatomic Particles as Villains. In: Particle Panic! . Science and Fiction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12206-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12206-5_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12205-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12206-5
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)