Since the atomic nucleus was first proposed in 1911, physicists simply assumed it was round. But are the nuclei of atoms really round? Intuitively this shape makes sense and physicists believed it ...

This image depicts the radium atom’s pear-shaped nucleus of protons and neutrons in the center, surrounded by a cloud of electrons (yellow), and an electron (yellow ball with arrow) that has a ...

The isotope lead-208 was predicted to be extremely stable and perfectly spherical because of the “magic” numbers of electrons and protons orbiting its nucleus. When researchers blasted lead-208 with ...

Researchers have been able to initiate a controlled movement in the very heart of an atom. They caused the atomic nucleus to interact with one of the electrons in the outermost shells of the atom.

Scientists at Delft University of Technology have managed to watch a single atomic nucleus flip its magnetic state in real time. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, they indirectly read the nucleus ...

Researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have been able to see the magnetic nucleus of an atom switch back and forth in real time. They read out the nuclear "spin" via the ...

An atom is the smallest unit of an element that retains its chemical properties. It is made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. (Image: M ...

Scientists tracked an atom's nuclear spin in real time with a tunneling microscope, finding it stable for seconds, opening paths to better magnetic control. (Nanowerk News) Researchers from Delft ...

Artist impression, based on actual measurement data, of the nuclear spin of an atom flipping between distinct quantum states. The flipping was observed as a fluctuation in the electrical current ...