Power of the Future,,,

Antimatter is the Bizarro twin of matter , made up of antiparticles 

that have the same mass as ordinary matter but with opposite atomic 

properties known as spin and charge. When the opposed particles meet, 

they annihilate each other and release tremendous amounts of energy as 

dictated by Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2. 

Antimatter is already in use in a medical imaging technique known as 

positron emission tomography (PET), but its use as a potential fuel 

source remains in the realm of science fiction. 

The problem with antimatter is that there is very little of it in the 

universe. It can be produced in laboratories, but currently only in 

very tiny amounts, and at prohibitively high costs. And even if the 

problem of production could be solved, there is still the knotty 

question of how to store something that has a tendency to annihilate 

itself on contact with ordinary matter, and also how to harness that 

energy once created. 

NASA funds research into creating antimatter drives that could one day 

take humanity to the stars, but dreams of antimatter-powered starships 

as seen on Star Trek are still a long way off, all experts agree.,,,