Antimatter Hazard Symbol finds early adopters!

Credit: Ben McGee

Those who have been long-time readers will remember a proposition I made for an antimatter hazard symbol (otherwise and less formally called a “warning sign”) back in May of 2010, which was based on currently-accepted international hazard symbology and color schemes. 

Well, to date, I am excited to report that the symbol has found some early adopters across the cyberverse.  Foremost amongst these is the website, WeInterrupt.com, who made a stab at a somewhat technical, somewhat tongue-in-cheek article featuring the symbol last June.

Image credit: Armando/Redcrow Design, utilizing antimatter hazard symbol credit: Ben McGee

Much earlier, (a year ago last November,) the site “ParanoidNEWS.org” incorporated the symbol into a fairly fantastic, paranoid montage with a nuclear mushroom cloud (at right) cresting a somewhat crass article about the potential development of antimatter weaponry. 

Patently alarmist, and the color scheme was artistically distorted, but still a cool image.

Finally, in August, a blog called “AngelsDoSpeak” included the symbol in a breakdown of potential nuclear fallout or activity symbols.  (The purpose of the symbol’s inclusion here on a religious site was a little confusing or perhaps ominous, but I’m happy with adopters all the same.)

While I should note that there have been other internet-promoted proposals for an antimatter hazard symbol, I feel quite strongly (based on my current work in the radiological protection industry) that instead of attempting to promote a new glyph or design into the hazard iconograhy pantheon, any antimatter symbol should derive from internationally-recognized symbology already in place.  This symbol should then simply be evolved/modified to capture antimatter’s potential hazard as a highly-reactive source of radiative energy, which I believe the above symbol does quite nicely.

-And while this effort is admittedly precautionary, the recent discovery that the Earth’s magnetic field traps naturally-ocurring antiprotons into a belt (a la the Van Allen Radiation Belts) may make orbital harvesting of antimatter a plausible pursuit.

In any case, feel free to promote the hazard symbol or use in your own projects or research if you so desire, and as always, comments are welcome.