this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2026
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[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

This is cool. It’s very small amounts.

The key issue is that they are making antimatter at CERN but the magnetic fields at CERN impede studying/analysing it.

Checking in with a nearby physicist, the amount is so small that even in the worse case it would be unlikely to set off a radiation detector.

In return for this sagesse, I was subjected to several witticisms on the detectable rate of decay in the bananas we have awaiting to be turned into banana bread.

I love that "banana for scale" is also applicable to radioactivity.

[–] kieron115@startrek.website 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)
[–] knightly@pawb.social 2 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

From the Memory Alpha wiki:

He did not require sustenance, but occasionally ingested semi-organic nutrient suspension in a silicon-based liquid medium to lubricate his biofunctions. (TNG: "Deja Q") Though capable of consuming more traditional food and drink, Data had no sense of taste and therefore tended not to bother eating. (TNG: "Hero Worship")

So, you could probably derive some of the organic components from bananas, but generally no. He's not really banana-powered.

[–] hallettj@leminal.space 4 points 1 day ago

They're making such progress! It wasn't that long ago that storing antimatter for a few minutes was a big achievement, let alone transporting it