CERN tests first road transport of antimatter
Mar 24th 2026 · Switzerland
Researchers at CERN moved about 100 antiprotons in a specially designed 2,200-pound magnetic trap on a 30-minute truck ride to test whether antimatter can be transported safely between labs.
- About 100 antiprotons were moved in a 2,200-pound superconducting magnetic trap during a 30-minute truck test from CERN in Geneva.
- The particles were kept suspended in vacuum by superconducting magnets chilled to about -452 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The transport system can hold antiprotons independently for around four hours, shorter than the roughly eight-hour drive to the planned German destination.
- Any contact between antimatter and matter would annihilate both, but the tiny quantity of antiprotons posed negligible risk if containment failed.
- CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator is the only facility producing low-energy antiprotons used in these experiments.
- The longer-term goal is to ship antiprotons to other laboratories with lower magnetic interference for more precise measurements.
Articles
- For the first time in the world, antimatter is being transported by road at CERN in Geneva. The test carried out on Tuesday at the nuclear research centre is intended to prove that the antiparticles can be transported safely. www.swissinfo.ch
- Antimatter has been transported by road for the first time www.newscientist.com
- Portable antimatter traps are here: CERN successfully drove a 1-ton magnetic container carrying antimatter 5km across Geneva www.finedayradio.com
- Antimatter has been transported for the first time ever — in the back of CERN's truck www.nature.com
- BASE experiment at CERN succeeds in transporting antimatter home.cern