The Shape of Matter

After the Big Bang an equal amount of
matter and antimatter should have been
produced. The particles of antimatter,
called antiparticles, have the opposite
charge of ordinary particles of matter and
to date only cosmic rays and some types
of radiation have been shown to contain
antimatter. So where has all the antimatter
gone?

One way to approach this question is to
study any potential differences between
matter and antimatter, including any difference
in shape that may exist between
the two particles. Researchers at the
Imperial College of London set out to determine
the exact shape of the electron
and have shown that it deviates by only
0.000000000000000000000000001 cm
from a perfect sphere.

This finding rules out a few possible explanations
regarding the disappearance
of antimatter and the technology being
developed to answer these questions has
applications to studying other complex
systems. It’s also satisfying to know that
one of life’s building blocks is (nearly) a
perfect sphere.

—MINA PARK

The cow left water on the
moon
Scientists have known for years that a
miniscule trace of water exists on the
moon. This amount, however, has been
turned on its head by a study published in
the July issue of Science which revealed
that there is up to 100 times more water
on the moon than studies previously
indicated. A collaborative research
team measured the amount of water in
lunar soil samples collected during the
Apollo 17 mission. They used standard
petrographic methods to measure
the water content within lunar melt
inclusions, tiny parcels of magma trapped
within crystals that grow prior to volcanic
emission. Since melt inclusions are
formed at such high pressures, they can
preserve the state of the magma trapped
inside. This allowed the team to study
the magma’s unaltered composition. The
water content found indicates that some
of the lunar interior contains just as much
water as the upper mantle of the Earth.

—CHRISTOPHER SMITH

Geometry for everyone

Whether you loved or hated Euclidean geometry
classes, it turns out you didn’t really
need them! A recent study conducted
in a secluded area of the Amazon basin
suggests that understanding basic Euclidean
geometry is an innate quality.

The Mundurucu Indians’ responses to
geometry problems were compared to
French and North American participants
of the same age. At first glance, the native
Amazon Indians seem disadvantaged
since most have never attended school.
However, results showed that their understanding
of infinite straight lines and
parallel properties of lines matched those
of the more educated participants.

How long does it take a North American
student to conceptualize that the
sum of all angles in a triangle is always
180 degrees? The Amazon natives did
just as well on this task and even outperformed
the North American and French
participants in answering basic problems
regarding spherical objects. This performance
is partly due to the increased focus
on planar geometry in civilized schooling
systems. Mixed results were found
in North American children between
5-6 years old, leading to the assumption
that understanding geometric concepts
begins around 6-7 years old. This study
furthers the important link between geometry
skills and survival.

—ALBERT RAZVAN GHEORGHITA

Source: Science Daily