Antimatter: does it matter?

In a particle accelerator (also known as an “atom smasher”) powerful electric fields send sub-atomic particles hurtling around a circular tunnel, until they smash into a target.

The debris from the impact includes many of the smaller particles that make up atoms, and a small amount of antimatter.

Big science

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) has one of the largest particle accelerators in the world. Its tunnel is 27km long, and passes underneath France and Switzerland.

Smaller particle accelerators are often used in hospitals >>