Physicists working with molybdenum-84, a nucleus containing exactly 42 protons and 42 neutrons, have found that this seemingly balanced atom defies one of nuclear physics’ longest-standing ...

In ancient Greece, most people thought that matter was made up of combinations of four elements: earth, air, fire and water. There were a small number of Greeks who had a different idea. They believed ...

A novel apparatus at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has made extremely precise measurements of unstable ruthenium nuclei. The measurements are a significant ...

By using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that could lead to even more precise clocks and new ways to search for dark ...