Antimatter and matter combine in chemical reaction

Mixing antimatter and matter usually has predictably violent consequences – the two annihilate one another in a fierce burst of energy.

But physicists in Geneva have found a new way to make the two combine, at least briefly, into a single substance. This exceptionally unstable stuff, made of protons and antiprotons, is called protonium.

The feat of "antichemistry" actually took place back in 2002, but nobody had realised it until now.

*Now* I've seen everything.

(Image courtesy of matter-antimatter.com, late of the ESA Giotto Spacecraft)