Different atoms and ions possess characteristic energy levels. Like a fingerprint, they are unique for each species. Among ...

Almost exactly 200 years ago, French physicist Sadi Carnot determined the maximum efficiency of heat engines. The Carnot ...

More than 40 researchers from international institutes collaborated to develop and implement a method that enables measurements with unprecedented precision. This sets new standards for theories and ...

Nuclear physics is the branch of science that examines the properties and behaviour of atomic nuclei, the densely packed assemblies of protons and neutrons held together by the strong interaction.

An international research team led by the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI has measured the radius of the nucleus of muonic helium-3 with unprecedented precision. The results are an important stress test ...

For two centuries, students have learned that heat flows and engines work according to rigid limits that no machine can beat.

Magnetic rotation and antimagnetic rotation represent distinct mechanisms by which atomic nuclei generate angular momentum in systems that exhibit little or no permanent quadrupole deformation. In ...

Nuclear weapons haven’t been tested in the United States since 1992. Find out why, and what could happen if the hiatus ends.

Our account of the strong nuclear force is full of imaginative terms. Six flavors of quarks have color charges of red, green and blue, which dictate how they bind to form particles like protons and ...

Nuclear weapons tests are among the most violent events humans can trigger, and that violence leaves fingerprints in the ...