The word magic is not often used in the context of science. But in the early 1930s, scientists discovered that some atomic nuclei—the center part of atoms, which make up all matter—were more stable ...

An element is defined according to the number of protons contained inside the nucleus of each atom. No two elements have the same number of protons, hence each element has a unique atomic number. The ...

Japanese scientists have made a new (nu?) periodic table organized by the number of protons in the nucleus instead of the element’s number of electrons. They call it the Nucletouch table, and where ...

For new, human-made heavy elements on the periodic table, being “too ‘big’ for your own good” often means instability and a fleeting existence. The more protons and neutrons scientists squeeze ...

At the start of the new year, nuclear chemists Hiromitsu Haba and Kouji Morimoto slide precisely 119 Japanese yen into the collection box at their local shrine. They are seeking good fortune in their ...

A chemical element is one of those squares on the periodic table that adorns many a classroom wall. Sure. But what is an element really? It is a more subtle question that you might realise. To get to ...

At the far end of the periodic table is a realm where nothing is quite as it should be. The elements here, starting at atomic number 104 (rutherfordium), have never been found in nature. In fact, they ...

SINCE the publication of our paper 1 on the disintegration of elements by fast protons, we have examined some of the light elements more carefully, using much thinner mica windows than we had ...