Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, December 24, 2016

9

THE WORLD AROUND US

Mountain Views-News Saturday, December 24, 2016


ALPHA EXPERIMENT OBSERVES THE LIGHT SPECTRUM OF ANTIMATTER FOR THE FIRST TIME

The ALPHA collaboration at CERN in Geneva, 
Switzerland, has reported the first-ever 
measurement of an antimatter atom’s optical 
spectrum. This achievement opens up a completely 
new era in high-precision antimatter research. It 
is the result of over 20 years of work by the CERN 
antimatter community.

 “Using a laser to observe a transition in 
antihydrogen and comparing it to hydrogen to see 
if they obey the same laws of physics has always 
been a key goal of antimatter research,” said 
ALPHA spokesperson Jeffrey Hangst.

 Atoms consist of electrons orbiting a nucleus. 
When the electrons move from one orbit to 
another they absorb or emit light at specific 
wavelengths, forming the atom’s spectrum. Each 
element has a unique spectrum. As a result, 
spectroscopy is a commonly used tool in many 
areas of physics, astronomy and chemistry. For 
example, in astrophysics, analyzing the light 
spectrum of stars allows scientists to determine 
their composition.

 With its single proton and single electron, 
hydrogen is the most abundant, simple and well-
understood atom in the universe. Its spectrum 
has been measured to very high precision. 
Antihydrogen atoms, on the other hand are 
poorly understood. Because the universe appears 
to consist entirely of matter, the constituents 
of antihydrogen atoms—antiprotons and 
positrons—have to be produced and assembled 
into atoms before the antihydrogen spectrum 
can be measured. It’s a painstaking process, 
but well worth the effort since any measurable 
difference between the spectra of hydrogen and 
antihydrogen would break basic principles of 
physics and possibly help understand the puzzle of 
the matter-antimatter imbalance in the universe.

 Today’s ALPHA result is the first observation of 
a spectral line in an antihydrogen atom, allowing 
the light spectrum of matter and antimatter to be 
compared for the first time. Within experimental 
limits, the result shows no difference compared 
to the equivalent spectral line in hydrogen. This 
is consistent with the Standard Model of particle 
physics, the theory that best describes particles 
and the forces at work between them, which 
predicts that hydrogen and antihydrogen should 
have identical spectroscopic characteristics.

 The ALPHA collaboration expects to improve 
the precision of its measurements in the future. 
Measuring the antihydrogen spectrum with 
high precision offers an extraordinary new tool 
to test whether matter behaves differently from 
antimatter and thus to further test the robustness 
of the Standard Model.

 ALPHA is a unique experiment at CERN’s 
Antiproton Decelerator facility, able to produce 
antihydrogen atoms and hold them in a specially-
designed magnetic trap, manipulating antiatoms 
a few at a time. Trapping antihydrogen atoms 
allows them to be studied using lasers or other 
radiation sources.

 Antihydrogen is made by mixing plasmas of 
about 90,000 antiprotons from the Antiproton 
Decelerator with positrons, resulting in the 
production of about 25,000 antihydrogen atoms 
per attempt. Antihydrogen atoms can be trapped 
if they are moving slowly enough when they are 
created. Using a new technique in which the 
collaboration stacks anti-atoms resulting from 
two successive mixing cycles, it is possible to trap 
on average 14 anti-atoms per trial, compared to 
just 1.2 with earlier methods. By illuminating the 
trapped atoms with a laser beam at a precisely 
tuned frequency, scientists can observe the 
interaction of the beam with the internal states of 
antihydrogen. 

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

WHO IS SANTA CLAUS? PART II

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS UP 

THE CHIMNEY

[Nyerges is an author / 
lecturer / educator who 
has written such books 
as “Extreme Simplicity,” 
“How to Survive Anywhere,” “Guide to Wild 
Foods,” and other books. Information about 
his books and classes is available at www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance, or Box 41834, Eagle 
Rock,CA 90041]

Continued from last week...

Back in his homeland, Nicholas became 
known as a very generous bishop. Remember, 
he inherited wealth from his parents, and he 
would sometimes give gold and other valuables 
to those that he heard was in need. In one case, 
it is said that Nicholas tossed a bag of gold 
coins into a needy family’s yard, anonymously. 
He was apparently humble, and didn’t want 
to be seen giving money to people, so he did 
it secretly. He was so famous for wanting to 
give such gifts in private when he traveled the 
countryside, children were told to go to sleep 
quickly or Nicholas would not come with 
gifts. This, apparently, is the origin of telling 
children to go to sleep or that Santa will not 
come.

 In one story, he apparently snuck into the home 
of a family where the three daughters of a poor 
man were about to get married. Nicholas put 
some gold into the stockings which the girls left 
by the fire to dry. This, apparently, is the origin of 
hanging up stockings on Christmas eve.

 He was also well known for the gifts that 
he gave to newly married couples during the 
already established Christmas season.

 And so it goes. Nicholas was a complex 
man, part of the new Catholic tradition 
which celebrated the birth of Jesus on the 
already-observed winter solstice. (Early Judeo-
Christians did not celebrate the birth of Jesus, 
a date that has been lost to history, but was 
definitely not December 25).

 He died on December 6, 343, which is to this 
day known as “Saint Nicholas Day.” Upon 
his death, he was buried in the cathedral of 
Myra. He is revered as a saint in most versions 
of Christianity and is especially honored in 
Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

 By the year 450, churches in Greece and Asia 
Minor were being named in honor of Nicholas. 
He was officially honored as a saint by the 
Eastern Catholic Church in 800. December 6 
began to be celebrated as Bishop Nicholas Day 
in France by the 1200s. 

As time went on, when ever someone received a 
mysterious gift, it would be attributed to Saint 
Nicholas! 

 The Dutch called Saint Nicholas “Sinterklass,” 
which is the mostly likely manner in which the 
name Saint Nicholas gradually evolved into 
“Santa Claus.” Along the way, Saint Nicholas 
was given some of the attributes of Odin, the 
Norse God, who could travel through the sky 
and who had a secret home somewhere around 
the north pole. Come to think of it, even the 
Superman story also borrowed from Odin. 
Remember how Superman sometimes goes to 
a secret cavern in the Northern coldlands and 
converses with his ancestors via ice crystals? 

 The image continued to morph over the 
years, with the Coco Cola company giving the 
world a somewhat sanitized and plumper Saint 
Nicholas-Santa Claus with their early 20th 
century ads. There we began to see the fatter 
bearded man in the red suit. 

 Today, the man you see in the mall is the 
modern condensation of fact and myth, 
embodying the generosity of one Catholic 
Bishop, the good will of all who gave gifts in 
his stead, and bits of the mythology of Odin.

It hardly seems possible that another Christmas 
has come and gone. I think it comes quicker than it 
goes, but then that is just my opinion.

 We were sitting for the last time around the 
Christmas tree which was about to be disassembled 
and I happen to say, “I can’t believe Christmas is 
over. Where does the time go?”

 To that, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage 
looked at me and said, “The older you get, the faster 
time goes.”

 I remember as if it was yesterday when without 
thinking, which is usually dangerous for me, I once 
responded, “You must know.”

 I got the “stare” that encouraged me not to 
respond in that vein ever again.

 However, and you didn’t hear it from me, she is 
right. She is always right. The older I get, the faster 
time seems to go. I cannot believe that not only is 
Christmas past, but the whole year is passed. It is all 
just history now.

 But, oh, what history it was.

 Sometimes it is interesting to think back over 
the past year and remember some of the great 
occasions. By great occasions, I mean the minuses 
and the pluses. Some memories are good and some 
memories are, well, you know.

 This is the genius of getting older. Now that I 
have another Christmas under my belt, I can mesh 
together two or three Christmases as though it was 
one Christmas occasion. After all, who is going 
to know, apart from the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage?

 Whenever I begin the phrase, “I remember a 
Christmas when…” I need to look at my wife to see 
if she is listening. Of course, if she is not listening, 
I can go along and invent my own Christmas tree 
story. I like to do that.

 There was the time when I first did this without 
noticing my wife was listening and at every turn of 
my story, she corrected me. By the time I was done 
telling “our” story, I did not remember what I said.

 Years ago, however, I have learned how to tell 
these Christmas memories and not get into trouble. 
One of the great things about being a husband is that 
you are on a learning curve. If you just pay attention, 
you learn how to deal with certain situations. When 
it comes to Christmas stories and memories, I have 
mastered the learning curve.

 I always begin it this way, “My dear,” referring 
to my wife, “do you remember that Christmas 
when…” That is about all I have to say and she will 
take the story from there. Fortunately for me, or 
unfortunately, it just depends, I have no idea which 
way she is going.

 Several times, I learned things about one of our 
Christmases that I did not know before. Maybe I 
did know it before, but I had forgotten it and I am 
going to let it sit there. I am not going to infer that 
she made up any memory for the storytelling. I will 
not suggest that the memory she was talking about 
had nothing to do with our Christmas history.

 That is just the kind of husband I am. I will never, 
ever, correct my wife about anything. Even when 
she makes a mistake in our checkbook, I do the 
“husband math,” correct it and not mention it.

 It is not all bad. Recently we were sitting drinking 
some coffee looking for the last evening at the 
Christmas tree thinking about Christmases in 
the past. Then I heard her chuckling. She does 
not usually chuckle like this, but it was a special 
occasion.

 “Do you remember,” she said still chuckling, 
“the Christmas tree that collapsed on Christmas 
morning?”

 I had to stop and rewind my memory machine 
and then I remembered. It is amazing what you can 
remember when you have a little bit of incentive.

 We had just moved into a new parsonage, it was 
our first Christmas there, and the children were 
rather young. Only one of them was going to school 
at the time. It was Christmas morning and as we got 
up the kids were so excited about Christmas and the 
Christmas gifts under the tree that they just went 
crazy.

 My wife and I sat back, watch them and laughed 
as they were laughing together.

 We were going to have an orderly opening of 
Christmas gifts, at least that was our plan. The kids, 
however, were so excited that they delved into the 
pile of Christmas presents, not knowing that behind 
them was the Christmas tree.

 All at once, without any kind of warning, the 
Christmas tree fell over and almost hit one of the 
kids. There was a trio of screaming that I think 
would have scared Santa Claus himself.

 Nobody was hurt, but three little munchkins were 
terribly frightened. They were so frightened they did 
not want to open up their Christmas presents.

 Thinking about this, my wife and I chuckled 
most heartily. From then on, the children never 
overlooked the Christmas tree and with a great deal 
of caution opened up their Christmas presents.

 In reminiscing about this, I thought of what the 
angel said to the shepherds that night so long ago, 
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of 
great joy, which shall be to all people,” (Luke 2:10).

 The years come and go but the most important 
thing are the memories they leave behind.

 

 Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God 
Fellowship, Ocala, FL 34483, where he lives with the 
Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 1-866-
552-2543, e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. Website is 
www.jamessnyderministries.com.


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