A giant space magnet raises the possibility of antimatter stars
BBC Earth Science follows Sam Ting's detector from Endeavour's final mission to signals that could point toward something unexpected in the cosmos.
BBC Earth Science
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 551,111 views a day, 26 times a normal first day on this channel (21,288).
Giant Space Magnet Reveals a 'Startling Possibility' | BBC Earth Science
Things we can learn from the video
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- 0:01Ting's particle-physics team began the project without experience in spaceflight.
- 1:12Endeavour carries the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer into space on its final mission.
- 2:22The detector is installed on the International Space Station and begins transmitting observations.
- 4:06The segment describes an antihelium-like signal, followed months later by a second.
- 5:04Ting and the narrator explore whether these signals could point to complex antimatter structures or antimatter stars.
Sam Ting's team knew particle physics. Spaceflight was another matter. "Zero, we didn't know anything," he says in BBC Earth Science's documentary segment about getting a giant magnetic detector into orbit.
That unlikely starting point leads to a much stranger question: could there be stars made of antimatter? The clip from Science's Greatest Mysteries has drawn about 370,000 views in twelve hours, already far beyond the channel's usual full-day audience for regular videos.
The instrument is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, built by international teams and carried aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final mission. Installed on the International Space Station, it began sending back observations of cosmic rays. Ting's relief at that first successful transmission is still clear in his telling: "I was so relieved."
The title's "startling possibility" arrives later. The segment describes a signal matching an antihelium nucleus, followed months afterward by another without nearby interference. These are the clues behind its discussion of more complex antimatter structures, including the possibility of antimatter stars, rather than a discovery of such stars themselves.
Ting puts the puzzle simply: "It has to be from something unexpected."
The comments also linger on the vehicle that got the detector there. One viewer recalls watching Endeavour travel through Los Angeles and making an oil painting from photographs of the occasion. Others turn the physics into jokes about whether antihelium would lower a voice. Between the shuttle memories and the particle questions, this orbiting instrument has given viewers plenty to talk about.
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What viewers say
Will anti-helium make my voice go lower?
@LazyGoGetterSee it on YouTubeSomewhere In Another Universe someone is looking for matter
@chrisragona3945See it on YouTube"Final launch of the Endeavor" - I have something in my eye. My family has always been involved in astronomy and/or the space program, so I was part of the crowd as she was towed through the streets of Los Angeles to her final resting place at the Science Museum. I created an Edward Hopper-style oil painting of her based on photos from that day
@idemiriamSee it on YouTube
3 more comments
Love what us humans can do when we work together.
@TheSainteliasSee it on YouTubeI loved the space shuttle era
@BudEmerson-y6qSee it on YouTubeI thought this was going to be something about cleaning all the junk in orbit up
@AldousHuxleysCatSee it on YouTube
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- Channel
- BBC Earth Science
- Subscribers
- 1,820,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 3,108,572
- Channel views, pace per day
- 399,123 (on a normal day: 356,204)
- Video published
- October 23, 2026
- Video views so far
- 370,188 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 551,111
The numbers
The antimatter segment has already passed BBC Earth Science's usual first-day views, with only half a day online. Its comment section is also much busier than a typical new upload's.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which space shuttle carried the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station?
The detector launched aboard Endeavour on the shuttle's final mission in 2011.