The word magic is not often used in the context of science. But in the early 1930s, scientists discovered that some atomic nuclei – the center part of atoms, which make up all matter – were ...

FRIB moves stable atoms through a 1,600-foot linear accelerator shaped like a giant paper clip, taking them to half the speed of light to collide with targets and, in a billionth of a trillionth ...

In other words, the atoms naturally prefer to arrange themselves in these unusual patterns, not just by chance, but because it’s the most stable option under the right conditions.

Aluminum atoms sneak into battery cathodes and block metal recovery during lithium-ion recycling, the researchers found.

The device takes stable atoms to half the speed of light, collides them with targets and, in a billionth of a trillionth of 1 second, creates rare isotopes almost never seen on Earth.

Covalent bonds, in which two atoms are bound together by sharing a pair of electrons, form the scaffolding that underpins the majority of organic compounds. In 1931, the Nobel Laureate Linus ...

The iron-60 atoms ejected by the supernova like to congregate in dust particles. So do the plutonium-244 isotopes, which were possibly created in other events and swept up by the supernova's ...