Many heavy atomic nuclei are shaped more or less like squashed rugby balls than fully inflated ones, according to a ...

MIT scientists used radium monofluoride atom to observe electrons entering atomic nuclei, revealing new details of nuclear magnetism.

Until now, physicists thought that all heavy nuclei deformed from spheres are elongated in one direction like rugby balls ...

For the first time, the state of an atomic nucleus was switched with a laser. For decades, physicists have been looking for such a nuclear transition -- now it has been found. This opens up a new ...

Scientists have provided proof for a new state of matter: an electron orbits a nucleus at a great distance, while many other atoms are bound inside the orbit. What is inside an atom, between the ...

When most of us picture an atom, we think about a small nucleus made of protons and neutrons orbited by one or more electrons. We view these electrons as point-like while rapidly orbiting the nucleus.

An atom is so small that a single drop of water contains more than a billion atoms. Although tiny, atoms are mostly empty space. The simplified model of the atom is that of a cloud of negative ...

Having good neighbors can be very valuable—even in the atomic world. A team of Amsterdam physicists was able to determine an ...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...

What is inside an atom, between the nucleus and the electron? Usually there is nothing, but why could there not be other particles too? If the electron orbits the nucleus at a great distance, there is ...