'Laser pincers' allow scientists to recreate neutron star conditions in the lab. 👩🔬 engineering
, that fires two lasers at each other. The result is that the energy from the two lasers is simultaneously converted into matter, in the form of electrons, as well as antimatter, in the form of positrons.Antimatter's rarity and instability mean that it is notoriously difficult to investigate. It is typically produced near black holes and neutron stars, while here on Earth it can be observed after lightning strikes, or in facilities like the Large Hadron Collider.
, however, scientists worldwide may now be able to produce antimatter in the lab. Though they have yet to build the laser device required to produce antimatter, simulations show that the principles behind the device are sound. Specifically, the new device, which has been labeled as"laser pincers", will fire two powerful lasers at a block of plastic from both sides. The block contains tiny crisscrossed channels, only micrometers wide, which help to accelerate a cloud of electrons within the material once the laser has shot through the plastic.
"Over a distance of just 50 micrometers, the particles should reach an energy of one gigaelectronvolt – a size that usually requires a full-grown particle accelerator," the researchers explain in