Some atoms are stable, while others seem to fall apart. Lead-208 will probably last forever, while the synthetic isotope technetium-99 exists for just hours. The difference lies in the structure of ...

Mirror magic: The "cores" of the exotic nuclei oxygen-22 and silicon-22 both resemble that of oxygen-16, with eight protons and eight neutrons. The neutron-rich oxygen isotope contains an additional ...

Why do some elements decay in minutes, while others last billions of years? Certain "magic numbers" of nuclear particles may make all the difference. When you purchase through links on our site, we ...