Physicists from The University of Manchester have a come step close to answering one of sciences biggest questions - why is our Universe made of matter?

Part of the international ALPHA collaboration based at CERN, Dr William Bertsche, and his colleagues from the School of Physics and Astronomy, have helped record the most precise measurement of antimatter ever made. The discovery reveals the spectral structure of the antihydrogen atom in unprecedented colour.

The findings, which are published in Nature, confirm the capabilities of anti-atom spectroscopy and bring the development of ultra-sensitive tests of antimatter one step closer, and with it a potential answer to the question why is our Universe made of matter?

Dr Bertsche explains: “A long-standing challenge for physicists has been to explain why matter, rather than antimatter, survived the Big Bang.

“Current theories suggest that our world should be equal parts matter and antimatter. Luckily for us, this is not the case because life as we know it would not be possible in world with that much antimatter.