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Signature of antimatter detected in lightning
ScienceNews ^ | 11/6/09 | Ron Cowen

Posted on 11/07/2009 3:35:23 PM PST by LibWhacker

Fermi telescope finds evidence that positrons, not just electrons, are in storms on Earth

Washington — Designed to scan the heavens thousands to billions of light-years beyond the solar system for gamma rays, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has also picked up a shocking vibe from Earth. During its first 14 months of operation, the flying observatory has detected 17 gamma-ray flashes associated with terrestrial storms — and some of those flashes have contained a surprising signature of antimatter.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: antimatter; catastrophism; earth; fermi; lightning; stringtheory
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To: El Gato

A single positron is not normally referred to as antimatter, although it is an antiparticle. Loosely you use the term antimatter when you have “many” antiparticles.


21 posted on 11/12/2009 3:41:13 PM PST by AdmSmith
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To: LibWhacker

22 posted on 11/12/2009 3:54:14 PM PST by Bratch
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