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When a positron annihilates with an electron, their mass is converted into energy in the form of two [[Gamma radiation]] photons.
 
When a positron annihilates with an electron, their mass is converted into energy in the form of two [[Gamma radiation]] photons.
 
Positrons are not solely used in science fiction. PET scanning is a real life example of the use of positrons.
 
   
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==

Revision as of 11:24, 22 November 2005

The positron is an antilepton (or, light antimatter particle); it is the antiparticle of the electron. It has a net charge of +1, exactly reversed from the electron, and a spin of 1/2, making it a fermion.

Science fiction author Isaac Asimov seized upon the positron as a mechanism suitably mysterious for use in stories he wrote about robots; he posited that their advanced computer brains employed positrons, instead of more pedestrian electrons. Inasmuch as the positron was then a very new discovery, the concept stuck, and eventually found its way into the Star Trek canon; the android Data has a positronic brain, although his brain has little else in common with those Asimov gave his robots, that among other things contained a hardwired morality commonly referred to as The Three Laws. It could be asserted that Data is more advanced, since his morality is the product of his own reasoning and experience.

When analyzing subspace infrared telemetry, received from spatial phenomena, the third analysis in the subspace infrared algorithm is measuring the flow rate of Positrons.

Displaced positrons could be an indication of contact with dark matter. In 2376 when a piece of the Delta Flyers hull was sheared off, scans showed signs of displaced positrons. While Crewman Harren believed this was obviously a sign that the Flyer had hit a dark matter proto-comet, Captain Janeway believed it could have been caused by a number of things. (VOY: "Good Shepherd")

When a positron annihilates with an electron, their mass is converted into energy in the form of two Gamma radiation photons.

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