Why does antimatter matter?

For those who have deeply pondered the first three words of Genesis, antimatter just might provide some specifics.

That’s why it greatly matters that CERN researchers in Switzerland, using the Large Hadron Collider, were able to “trap” 38 atoms of antihydrogen for a fraction of a second.  This accomplishment not only paves the way for seemingly miraculous feats such as interstellar travel (through the development of antimatter fuel, which has an incredibly high energy density), but also helps to solve some ultimate mysteries.

According to CERN’s  “Antimatter Academy Briefing Room,” two of the basic universal particles (electrons and protons) are thought to be “immortal” in that they will continue to exist far longer than the Universe itself.  (Since human atoms contain both these particles - are humans, then, at least somewhat immortal?)

Electrons and protons are said to have resulted from the Big Bang approximately 15 billion years ago.  As Einstein said, energy (such as that of the Big Bang) can transform into matter under certain conditions. However, a multitude of physics experiments has also shown that the creation of particles is always accompanied by the creation of mirror-image antiparticles.  Not only that, these “twin” particles/antiparticles tend to annihilate one another (in a burst of energy) when brought back into close contact.  (Worse than Jacob and Esau…)

How, then, does matter (including all of God’s creatures) even exist in our universe?  If matter is composed of particles with “evil twins” that blow them to smithereens, then how does anything we call life even survive?

If the CERN researchers can take a bite out of this apple, the Tree of Knowledge may yet yield its closely-guarded secrets.

Resources

http://press.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/academy/AM-travel01.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/tech/Bucket-of-Antimatter-at-UC-Berkeley-109260459.html