This is so stupid. I expect better then this from peakoil.com
Magic space travel?This is the stupid part. Antimatter is not any magic key to star ships or space flight. This won't magically levitate a spacecraft. And this isn't even a good way to store energy.
Regarding this as a weapon or for producing energy? You put in x amount of energy creating your antimatter. At most you might get 2X in energy reacting with matter. However this isn't likely since you have likely spent an aircraft carrier in momentum to create your first atom. On reaction your atom makes a little pop. Ultimately it is more efficient to throw aircraft carriers at enemies with catapults. Regarding using this in a reactor, it's got a long way to go to get a positive EROEI.
But what if antimatter could be produced efficiently and this had a positive EROEI?Then it would not be used for space travel.
1. First it would be orders of magnitude less safe as an energy source then a nuclear reactor strapped to a tank of liquid hydrogen propellant.
2. The only way antimatter could be useful for space travel is if the antimatter could be produced on the fly and reacted with matter and sufficient energy captured to continue the reaction and production of antimatter, which is very unlikely to be possible without rewriting the laws of thermodynamics.
3. If it was possible to produce antimatter for less energy then was consumed in the production, then it is likely countries could use this produce nuclear bombs without having to refine uranium or other isotopes. An antimatter nuclear bomb alternative would be very dangerous for the world. Such an energy source might be used to send people into space; with mushroom clouds. If antimatter production was easy and efficient, it would not be a good thing. Luckily we live in a universe where it is neither easy or efficient to produce.
What is good about this research?Understanding different forms of energy will help our understanding of the universe we live in. Being able to observe this energy form for a full "one tenth of a second" will probably make possible many new and interesting physics tests for understanding energy. I'm sure it's good research,
but it's not "Antimatter Breakthrough Could Lead to Starships".