antimatter theme
Antimatter is a form of matter composed of particles with the same mass, but opposite quantum properties (e.g. charge) to those of corresponding particles of ordinary matter. This theme is used whenever a property of antimatter is explicitly touched on in the story.
Notes
The typical use case occurs when somebody explains that matter and antimatter go boom when brought into contact. In more scientifically accurate treatments of the subject, however, we may learn that a collision between a particle and its anti-particle partner leads to their mutual annihilation, giving rise to a release of energy in the form of radiation.
Examples
The danger of trying to mix matter with antimatter was explained in tos1x20 "The Alternative Factor".
4 total · 4 minor
| Story | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| movie: The Giant Claw (1957) | minor | A scientist briefed military brass about anti-matter and its explosive relation to ordinary matter and how the giant bird used an anti-matter shield to defend itself. |
| rd1988e6x02 | minor | Legion warned the crew never to let antimatter chopsticks touch. |
| tos1x20 | minor | Extrapolating from the notion that matter and antimatter particles tend to violently cancel each other out, Kirk and Spock concluded that Lazarus coming into contact with his antimatter counterpart would result in the annihilation of the entire universe. |
| tos2x18 | minor | Some sort of magnetic field was used to contain an ounce of antimatter. |