For the first time, scientists observe a new and rare decay mode where oxygen-13 breaks into three helium nuclei and a proton following beta decay. Scientists have previously observed interesting ...

In a random moment, all energy is lost. The unstable subject cannot help but decay, slowly but surely, letting go of particles to become stable. It loses itself to become balanced again. This is a ...

Left: “Mirror” nuclei lithium-8 and boron-8 undergo beta decay, then split into two alpha particles. Right: Radioactive ions from the ATLAS accelerator at Argonne National Laboratory are suspended in ...

Hickory dickory dock, this nucleus could make a great clock. A special variety of the element thorium hosts an atomic nucleus that could be used to keep time, scientists say. In a first, researchers ...

A Chinese startup claims its new radioactive coin cell can provide power for decades. Here is why you shouldn't expect it in ...

In recent years, some large physics experiments worldwide have been trying to gather evidence of a nuclear process known as neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay. This is a rare process that entails ...

Neutrino mass measurements remain one of the most challenging endeavours in contemporary physics. Direct measurement techniques, particularly those probing the endpoint of the tritium β-decay spectrum ...

Among the many science toys that have fallen out of fashion since we started getting nervous around things like mercury, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and radiation is the spinthariscope, which let people ...