Has it been observed? Is it just theoretical? Is it one of those simple-but-profound things?
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I read all the answers, and want to add a detail to get at the scales involved. Many fine answers mention “creation” of mass from various high energy procezses, the LHC, etc. All good.
But how much mass is involved? Are we talking practicality?
Sadly, probably not. For example, a modest uranium fission bomb, say 20 kilotons, converts very roughly 1 gram of mass to energy. So, this process is reversible! How about that! All we need to do (skipping over some important details) is to concentrate all the energy of a 20 kiloton nuke blast into a couple cubic centimeters, all at once, for a few hundred picoseconds, et voilà! A noticeable bit of mass!
Too bad about the lab, though. Probably have to build a new one.
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