Transporting the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth

Transporting the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth

From Science Weekly by The Guardian

March 26, 2026 · 16 min

About this episode

The episode discusses a world-first experiment in transporting antimatter, featuring insights from experts at Cern.

A box the size of a filing cabinet was lifted by crane, slowly moved and placed very carefully in the back of an unassuming lorry earlier this week. What looked like a casual drive around the Cern campus was actually a world-first experiment in transporting antimatter, the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth. To find out why scientists wanted to achieve this milestone, and what happened on the journey, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, and the Cern physicist Dr Christian Smorra.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

People in this episode

Host: Madeleine Finlay

Guests: Ian Sample, Dr Christian Smorra

Topics covered

  • antimatter
  • transportation
  • science experiment
  • Cern
  • volatile substances

Keywords

  • antimatter
  • transport
  • Cern
  • science
  • volatile substance
  • experiment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cern, The Guardian

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