Bananas could be used as a natural source of antimatter fuel for interstellar spaceships.
April 1, 2026
Original Paper
Antimatter Propulsion for Interstellar Travel via Positron Production from Potassium-40 Rich Biological Matter
arXiv · 2603.29635
The Takeaway
Antimatter is the ultimate sci-fi fuel, but it's incredibly difficult to manufacture on Earth. This paper suggests that because bananas are rich in Potassium-40—which naturally spits out positrons as it decays—they could serve as a biological antimatter source for advanced civilizations looking to travel between stars.
From the abstract
Anitmatter-based propulsion is often cited as a physically plausible route to relativistic interstellar travel, and thus as a potential mechanism by which technologically advanced civilizations could expand throughout the galaxy. Its difficulty may be central to the resolution of Fermi's paradox. Since the Universe should be teaming with advanced technological life, yet we see none, it may be that interstellar travel is simply too difficult. It has been suggested that the main difficulty with us