Scientists Claim Breakthrough in Antimatter Hunt

GENEVA — Scientists at the world's biggest physics lab say they have achieved a breakthrough in the hunt for antimatter.

An international team of physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva say they created an entire atom made of antimatter and then for the first time managed to hold onto it.

A spokesman for the experiment says scientists will now try to compare this "anti-atom" with a regular hydrogen atom in order to understand the properties of antimatter.

Jeffrey Hangst told The Associated Press on Thursday this may help scientists understand why the antimatter that was created in equal amounts as matter by the Big Bang seems to have disappeared.