Andrew Watson
Researchers at CERN, the European center for particle physics in Geneva, have unveiled a piece of a looking-glass world by creating the first atoms of antimatter. Last fall they painstakingly combined positrons--antimatter counterparts of electrons--with antiprotons to make 11 short-lived atoms of antihydrogen. Antihydrogen should have exactly the same mass and optical properties as ordinary hydrogen, but researchers will be studying it to make sure; any deviations from this symmetry would shake the foundations of physics.