US EditionCERN Successfully Transports Antimatter by Truck in World-First Test Drive
CERN transported about 100 antiprotons in a 1,000-kg trap on a 4-km campus loop, aiming for future deliveries to quieter European labs for more precise antimatter studies.
- On Tuesday, March 24, 2026, CERN's BASE-STEP team successfully completed the first-ever road transport of antiprotons, driving a specialized 1,000-kilogram cryogenic trap around the Geneva campus to confirm system viability.
- To overcome research limitations, CERN scientists developed the BASE-STEP transportable Penning trap, enabling movement of antiprotons from the lab's 'Antimatter Factory' to external facilities for higher-precision matter-antimatter comparisons.
- Superconducting magnets cooled to-269°C kept roughly 91 of 100 antiprotons suspended in a vacuum, a process CERN officials confirmed posed no environmental danger due to the extremely small quantity involved.
- Physicist Stefan Ulmer called the successful test the 'starting point to a new era' for the field, while technical coordinator Francois Butin said 'It's fantastic!' about the achievement.
- Future plans involve delivering antiprotons to Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany, though researchers must extend the trap's four-hour autonomous hold time to accommodate the eight-hour drive.
117 Articles
117 Articles
In a laboratory near Geneva, an experiment that sounds almost like science fiction – but is actually a very concrete step in understanding the universe – has taken place. Scientists from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have succeeded in transporting antimatter by road for the first time in history.
World's First Antimatter Delivery by Truck Signals a 'New Era' in Physics
CERN scientists on Tuesday pulled off the unprecedented feat of transporting antiprotons by road, successfully test-driving the world's first antimatter delivery system, with an eye to one day supplying research labs across Europe.
For the first time in human history, researchers have moved antimatter, actually 92 particles of probably the most valuable substance in the world. Transporting to another place could help solve the greatest mystery of the universe.
European CERN scientists have found a way to capture 92 antiprotons in a 10-kilometre trucked ion trap.
For the first time, the European nuclear research centre CERN in Geneva has succeeded in transporting antimatter on the road. The test drive could be the first step to solve one of the biggest puzzles of particle physics. By Kathrin Hondl.
For the first time, antimatter has been transported over several kilometers. A research team has made history – and opened new doors.
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