Protons and neutrons that have briefly paired up in the nucleus have higher-average momentum, leaving less for non-paired nucleons. Researchers have now shown for the first time that this phenomenon ...

Unstable atoms emit fast-moving particles that can damage cells in the human body. Some atoms are far more unstable than ...

A new study suggests that the positively charged particles may have an outsize influence on the properties of neutron stars and other neutron-rich objects. Neutron stars are the smallest, densest ...

Protons are tiny particles just a femtometer across, but without them, atoms wouldn't exist. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The next time you step on bathroom scales, remember that it’s not your big bone structure or that extra helping of pudding that makes you heavy, it’s the motion of the quarks and gluons buzzing around ...

When it comes to weighty matters, quarks and gluons rule the universe, a new study confirms. One of the largest computational efforts to calculate the masses of protons and neutrons shows that the ...

If you hit an atom's nucleus hard enough, it will fall apart. But exactly how it falls apart tells us something about the internal structure of the nucleus and perhaps about the interior of neutron ...

It’s a case of acting differently when outmanned — or rather out-neutroned. Protons appear to get extra pep in their step when they’re outnumbered by neutrons in the atom’s nucleus. A new study ...

Neutron stars are the remnants of violent supernovae, all that’s left behind when a star tens of times the mass of our Sun ends its nuclear fuel-burning life. These extreme objects pack more mass than ...

Proton therapy has emerged as a highly precise modality in radiotherapy, utilising accelerated proton beams to deposit dose in a controlled manner and thereby spare surrounding healthy tissues.

Adding a single proton to a doubly magic isotope of oxygen is enough to significantly alter its properties, an international team of physicists has discovered. Led by Tsz Leung Tang at the University ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Examining the smallest parts of the universe often takes the biggest kinds of equipment. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a unique piece of equipment the size of a building is ...