Despite sounding fantastical, antimatter is almost identical to matter except for its opposite charge and spin; it also explodes upon contact with matter. And it’s much closer to us than you think, being found in minuscule amounts on Earth. Potassium-40, a naturally occurring potassium isotope (variant), sometimes emits a positron (an anti-electron) when it decays. Potassium-40 is found in the humble banana — spitting out one positron roughly every 75 minutes — and even the human body, but the amount is so tiny that there isn’t cause for concern. Read full article here
Science
An Eerie Poisonous Fog
If you’re visiting a farm, keep an eye out for an ominous-looking bronze fog. Nitrogen tetroxide, a red-orange gas, is made by certain bacteria during fermentation when oxygen is lacking in the crop. The lack of oxygen causes the bacteria to use the nitrate within the crops, which then produces nitrogen tetroxide. Inhalation of the gas is known to cause permanent lung damage or kill people and livestock. To prevent this, farmers have started performing nitrate tests after four weeks of fermentation. Read full article here
Merv
November 30, 2022
