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 ...

Scientists at Yokohama National University, in collaboration with RIKEN and other institutions in Japan and Korea, have made ...

When two hydrogen atoms get close enough, the electron from each atom feels an attraction from the proton in the other atom's nucleus. This attraction pulls the atoms together. The electrons end up ...

The picture shows a close-up of one carbon atom. A hydrogen atom has one proton as the nucleus and one electron in the region outside the nucleus. The electron and proton are attracted to each other.

Scientists at YOKOHAMA National University, in collaboration with RIKEN and other institutions in Japan and Korea, have made ...

Researchers at Technische Universitat Darmstadt, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, and other institutes recently identified candidates for toroidal dipole excitations in the nucleus 58 Ni ...

When this happens, an electron in the beryllium atom combines with a proton in its nucleus, producing a neutron. This transforms the beryllium atom into lithium, producing a kick of energy that ...

One leading explanation was that there were electrons and additional protons in the nucleus as well -- the ... and imagined it as a paired proton and electron. There was no evidence for any ...

This article was originally published with the title “ What Holds the Nucleus Together? ” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 189 No. 3 (September 1953), p. 58 doi:10.1038 ...

The IAEA's NUCLEUS information resource portal provides access to over 100 scientific, technical and regulatory resources, including databases, applications, publications and training material. As it ...