Scientists claim to have made a 'milestone' discovery and proven Albert Einstein right in the process by showing for the first time that antimatter falls in gravity. 

Boffins at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), in Switzerland, claim to have validated the famed physicist's theory of general relativity through observations of the mysterious antiparticles. 

Antimatter is the opposite of matter, from which stars, planets and humans are made, but is notoriously hard to detect as it exists for only moments at a time before being destroyed on contact with normal matter in a process called annihilation.

But researchers at CERN say that for the first time they have shown that it experiences gravity in the same way as normal matter, in that it falls like all other objects.

The discovery has delighted scientists, with Professor Jeffrey Hangst, spokesman for the experiment saying: 'This is the first direct experiment to actually observe a gravitational effect on the motion of antimatter. It's a milestone.'

Antimatter is the enigmatic twin of ordinary matter, possessing the same mass but with an opposite electrical charge. Almost all subatomic particles, such as electrons and protons, have an antimatter counterpart. 

While electrons are negatively charged, antielectrons, also called positrons, are positively charged. Likewise, while protons are positively charged, antiprotons are negatively charged.