Number 41 (Story #1), July 17, 1991 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein HYDROGEN ATOMS HAVE BEEN MADE by the overlapping of beams of free electrons and protons in the presence of laser radiation. In the beam environment the two particles may meet but seldom mate because there isn't enough time for the electron to fall into the kind of lower orbit needed for a lasting marriage. Now groups at Heidelberg University (Germany) and at the University of Western Ontario (Canada) report (both in the 1 July issue of Physical Review Letters) the use of laser light to foster a fast de-excitation, leading to the formation of stable atoms in well-defined energy states. Farook Yousif of the University of Western Ontario believes the process might be used to create anti-hydrogen. (Science News, 13 July 1991.)