Segrè, Emilio Gino

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Segrè, Emilio Gino (1905–89) US physicist, b. Italy. In 1937, Segrè discovered technetium – the first element to be artificially produced. In 1940, he helped to discover astatine and plutonium-239. He is, however, chiefly remembered for his discovery of the anti-proton. In 1955, using a Bevatron particle accelerator, Segrè and US physicist Owen Chamberlain bombarded copper with high-energy protons to produce the antiparticle of the proton. Chamberlain and Segrè shared the 1959 Nobel Prize in physics. See also antimatter

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