# Antimatter belt discovered around Earth



## Metryq (Aug 9, 2011)

*Antimatter belt discovered around Earth*


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## RJM Corbet (Aug 9, 2011)

It's obviously a very thin layer though? It's done nothing to any spacecraft so far? One imagines this huge explosion: OMG, what the hell was _that_ ...


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## Nik (Aug 9, 2011)

And all this time, material erosion was put down to oxygen ions...


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## Metryq (Aug 9, 2011)

RJM Corbet said:


> One imagines this huge explosion: OMG, what the hell was _that_ ...



As you noted, the antimatter zone is probably extremely rarified. Hence, no "booms." And we've seen the previous reports of antimatter being generated by lightning storms. Overall, I'd say this squelches the notion of antimatter as this exotic stuff created during the equally exotic Big Bang, as well as fantasies of galaxies made entirely of antimatter. 

Perhaps a second stage periodic table is in the making. That is, the way electrons can be excited to a higher energy state by a photon and then releasing a photon when falling back to its "rest state," perhaps matter and antimatter are generated from somewhere and produce a gamma ray burst when they combine again. With all the storms happening around Jupiter, maybe magnetic scoop ships will harvest the space around there for fuel.

Maybe Baxter's _Anti-Ice_ wasn't so far out after all.


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## Metryq (Aug 9, 2011)

Nik said:


> And all this time, material erosion was put down to oxygen ions...



And you thought normal rust was bad!


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## Vertigo (Aug 9, 2011)

That's a pretty awesome and far reaching discovery, especially if the report is accurate about the researchers saying there is sufficient quantity for it to be a viable fuel source and, as Metryq says, if there's enough around to Earth to be viable then think how much more there has to be around the gas giants.


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