Researchers from U.C. Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Labs were part of a team of scientists from CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) who reported yesterday that they had successfully created and trapped a form of antimatter: antihydrogen. Until now, it had not been possible to trap atoms of antimatter without having them automatically annihilate themselves the moment they were created, as soon as they hit the ordinary matter of the containers in which they were created.

The new process, first tested by the Berkeley team, uses an "octupole" magnetic trap that holds the anitmatter atoms in a powerful magnetic field at temperatures more than 400 degrees below zero.

They only created 38 atoms and only held them for two tenths of a second, however the experiment is expected to lead to larger experiments that will help scientists understand, as never before, the fundamental properties of the Big Bang, and where all the antimatter went. [Chron, LA Times]

A man posing a woman was recently discovered photographing women inside a UC Berkeley locker room. Apparently, according to reports, a custodian witness the creep on Oct. 4 "with a white towel wrapped around his head and chin" snapping pics at the Recreational Sports Facility on the Cal campus.

He later struck two days later. Daily Cal reports that, according to Eric Craypo, director of communications for Recreational Sports, a female patron noticed the man, this time disguised in workout clothes and a wig, while she changed her clothes. When an employee noticed the suspicious pman and confronted him, he ran from the room.

The suspect is described as "a Hispanic or Indian man in his 20s who is 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a thin build and dark brown or black hair."

[SF Appeal]
[Daily Cal]

It's now been over six months since those three Berkeley grads were taken hostage by the Iranian government after mistakenly crossing the border into the country while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan. A couple weeks back, Iranian President Ahmadinejad offered to swap the three hostages for 11 Iranians held in the U.S. for various crimes including arms deals; Hillary Clinton balked and refused. The siblings of the hikers have put up a website, with a petition and a video plea (after the jump) asking for YouTube submissions to give the kids "strength" while in captivity -- though it seems doubtful that they have YouTube access.

Then this opinion columnist lady at the Philadelphia Inquirer penned a piece calling for their release, and notably defending their choice of a hiking spot saying, from personal experience, "Those mountains are extraordinarily beautiful, and Kurds hike there on vacations. Moreover, Iraqi Kurdistan, unlike the rest of Iraq, is so peaceful one can forget that it's surrounded by bad neighborhoods."

For the 75892432th year in a row, UC Berkeley was named the number-one university when it comes to undergraduate education at a public university. At least according to U.S. News & World Report's 2010 "America's Best Colleges" list, it is. Overall, Cal came in sixth 21st, placing well below the more elite and classier schools like Harvard, Princton, Yale, MIT, and Stanford. This year, a total of six University of California campuses ranked in the top 50 schools -- Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego, Davis, Santa Barbara, and Irvine. (Put down the pipe and pick up a book, banana slugs.) Read more about the list here.

Three hikers (Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal) were captured by Iranian authorities last week, "after they strayed across the border while hiking in Northern Iraq in a tourist area." Two of the three hikers placed under arrested in Iran have Bay Area connections. Bauer and Shourd are both UC Berkeley graduates who worked as freelance journos with New American Media. According to Bauer's website, he is a freelance journalist and photographer based in the Middle East." Bauer was "born in Minnesota and graduated with honors from UC Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies." Shourd was an English major and describes herself as a "teacher-activist-writer." Former First Lady and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now on the case. According to Associated Press, "Clinton said that Swiss diplomats who represent U.S. interests in Iran are asking officials from the Iranian Foreign Ministry for details but have not yet gotten official confirmation of the trio's arrest. She asked that Iran determine the facts of the case and to 'return them as quickly as possible.'"

Aw, recent college graduates. Aren't they adorable? They're younger than you, they're prettier than you, they believe in things, they can drink more than you, and they will steal your jobs. Take, for example, this recent Cal grad who created an awesome solar-powered graduation cap. But it's not just any solar-powered cap; it's a sustainable, green cap. According to Daily Clog's Christine Borden -- congratulations on the big day, Christine; you will be missed deeply! -- this chapeau comes "complete with grass paper (astroturf probably causes global warming or something), a solar panel, a wind turbine, a small house and a mechanical rising sun."

The hat's creator, Roland Saekow, says that "while not true generation, it helps to demonstrate renewable energy at least." Saekow, who majored in Product Design through the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at Berkeley, hopes to work on "green sustainable products" in the future