Number 243 (Story #2), October 5, 1995 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein ANTIMATTER TRAP. Theodor Hansch and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute and the University of Munich in Germany have for the first time trapped simultaneously electrons and positively charged ions in the same small region of space. The researchers consider this to be "an important step towards the synthesis of antihydrogen." Making antihydrogen---consisting of a positron in orbit around an antiproton---would allow scientists to test the laws of physics all over again, this time with antimatter. The hybrid Munich apparatus consists of a Penning trap (a homogeneous static magnetic field and a static electric quadrupole field) for confining the ions and a Paul trap (the static electric quadrupole plus an oscillating electric quadrupole field) for confining the electrons. As practice for making antihydrogen, the German physicists intend to stimulate the generation of ordinary hydrogen from electrons and protons using a carbon dioxide laser. (J. Walz et al., 30 October 1995, Physical Review Letters; contact physnews@aip.org)