The isotope lead-208 was predicted to be extremely stable and perfectly spherical because of the “magic” numbers of electrons and protons orbiting its nucleus. When researchers blasted lead-208 with ...

For decades, scientists believed that lead-208 (²⁰⁸Pb), the heaviest known "doubly magic" nucleus, was perfectly spherical. New research, however, has shattered that assumption. An international team ...

Nuclear forces can be compared to a game of catch. With the two-nucleon force, two players, or nucleons, interact by throwing a ball to each other. The ball, a subatomic particle called a meson, can ...

A researcher stands behind a metal pipe covered with electrical cords and gauges. A researcher works on a device at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. This part of the facility provides low-energy ...

Scientists at Delft University of Technology have managed to watch a single atomic nucleus flip its magnetic state in real time. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, they indirectly read the nucleus ...

What’s going on with this silent threat that can stealthily damage your body in ways that can take years to reveal themselves ...