Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An abstract illustration of ...

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 ...

Atomic nuclei are often described as orderly systems. Certain numbers of protons or neutrons, called magic numbers, usually produce especially stable and spherical nuclei. These numbers fill entire ...

For decades, nuclear physicists believed that "Islands of Inversion"—regions where the normal rules of nuclear structure suddenly break down—were found mostly in neutron-rich isotopes. In these ...