You all know the rule: when you’re firing a proton beam from an unlicensed particle accelerator on your back, don’t cross the streams. That sensible piece of advice from Dr. Egon Spengler, the maker of the so-called “proton pack.” But what’s at the heart of these ghost-bustin’ devices? For the answer, we have to go back and learn about the world’s first circular particle accelerator.

In my latest Because Science, we’re taking a look at the “basic” technology behind the Ghostbusters’ most famous device, which all begins with a particle accelerator that you could indeed fit on your back: the cyclotron (it sounds cool because it is).

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