On this day in 899 AD, Alfred the Great died. A Christian king who defended Wessex against the Vikings, fought back against the odds and helped lay the foundations of England. But his legacy went far beyond the battlefield. Faith, education and law. 1,127 years later, England is still here.

Scientists have managed to trap a single particle of antimatter, bringing researchers closer to some of the biggest unanswered questions in physics. The team at Northwestern University captured a positron, the antimatter counterpart of an electron, and held it inside a specialized trap using electric and magnetic fields. The particle was cooled to just 0.3 degrees above absolute zero and suspended in a near-perfect vacuum, preventing it from touching ordinary matter. That separation is essential because when matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate one another. The breakthrough could help scientists investigate why the universe contains so much more matter than antimatter, despite theories suggesting the Big Bang should have produced similar amounts of both. Researchers now aim to measure the positron’s magnetic properties with extraordinary precision and compare them with those of an electron. Any unexpected difference could challenge a fundamental principle of modern physics and point toward new discoveries about how the universe works. The study demonstrates a new level of control over a single antimatter particle, creating opportunities for tests that were previously extremely difficult to perform. [Myers, T. G., Soucy, L., Sukra, B. A. D., Sinha, B., & Gabrielse, G. (2026). One-positron quantum cyclotron. *Physical Review Letters*, 137, 173001. DOI: 10.1103/gbkc-6nlj]

Sign at petrol station in India

My favorite song of the 90s. I am a huge Nirvana fan, but this Smashing Pumpkins tune beats them all. Perfect song composition/structure with building intro and guitar solo that goes to outer space Also Chamberlin’s drumming is top notch “Cherub Rock”