Anti-matter is explosive stuff! In a scientific sense, it is the opposite of the normal matter which comprises both us and our surroundings. Every type of particle in nature is thought to possess its own anti-particle – which will have the opposite charge to the particle itself. Originally theorised to exist by scientists in the first half of the 20th century, the fact that a matter/anti-matter reaction releases a hundred times more energy (per mass of fuel) than even the most powerful nuclear reaction quickly brought it to the attention of the science-fiction genre. “Star Trek” is probably the most obvious example of the basic use of anti-matter in science fiction. Star ships of the Federation use stores of anti-matter as their source of fuel, so that their ships are powered by a matter/anti-matter reaction.

Sometimes the use of anti-matter was as straightforward as being the ultimate rocket fuel, for example in the anti-matter rocket starships in Peter F. Hamilton's “The Nightsdawn Trilogy” (1990s). On other occasions, anti-matter has been viewed as the natural successor to nuclear reactors as the source of power of the future, a prime example being the “Starship Enterprise” from the 1960s television show “Star Trek” (not to mention its sequel series and film spin-offs). The “Enterprise” contained a central reactor core which powered the entire ship in which matter and anti-matter were mixed, releasing enough energy to boldly go where no-one had gone before!

Some science-fiction authors have even asked what-if questions about anti-matter. In the book “Traces”, Stephen Baxter explores the idea that anti-matter might exist in space as large chunks of “anti-ice”, which could be mined and mixed with large volumes of normal water to provide, in the case of the story in question, an awful lot of steam power.

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