US EditionCERN Successfully Transports Antimatter by Truck in World-First Test Drive
About 92 of 100 antiprotons were transported safely on a 4-kilometre road test at CERN to enable future deliveries to quieter European labs for precision research.
- 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.
91 Articles
91 Articles
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.
Meyrin, Switzerland. On Tuesday, CERN scientists achieved the unprecedented feat of transporting antiprotons by road, successfully testing the world’s first antimatter delivery system, with a view to one day supplying research laboratories across Europe. “Particles returned... so it was a success,” CERN physicist Stefan Ulmer told reporters after the big truck will return after a 10-kilometer tour of the campus of Europe’s main physics laborator…
For the first time in the history of science, researchers in Geneva have transported antimatter by car, which is instantly destroyed upon contact with ordinary matter.
Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, have become the first in the world to transport antimatter in a truck. The AP and DPA agencies reported on Tuesday. The researchers then want to determine whether all 92 antiprotons survived the "ride."
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources lean Left
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
