Featured
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News |
Fukushima bosses cleared over nuclear disaster
Three former executives of the company that operated the Fukushima Daiichi plant have been acquitted of negligence by a Japanese court.
- Mark Zastrow
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News & Views |
One tick closer to a nuclear clock
Clocks that are based on the nucleus of a single thorium atom could be more precise than existing timekeepers. Such clocks have not yet been realized, but two experiments provide keys steps towards this goal.
- Jason T. Burke
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Letter |
X-ray pumping of the 229Th nuclear clock isomer
Excitation to the second excited state of 229Th is used to populate the metastable state 229mTh, enabling accurate determination of the isomer’s energy, half-life and excitation linewidth.
- Takahiko Masuda
- , Akihiro Yoshimi
- & Koji Yoshimura
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Letter |
Energy of the 229Th nuclear clock transition
The transition energy of the first excited state of 229Th to the ground state is determined through the measurement of internal conversion electrons to correspond to a wavelength of 149.7 ± 3.1 nanometres.
- Benedict Seiferle
- , Lars von der Wense
- & Peter G. Thirolf
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Nature Podcast |
Podcast: Persistent antibiotic resistance, and modelling hot cities
Hear the latest science news, with Nick Howe and Benjamin Thompson.
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News Explainer |
India–Pakistan nuclear escalation: where could it lead?
India says its ‘no first use’ nuclear policy could change. Nature examines what that means for the country's fraught relationship with Pakistan.
- Priyanka Pulla
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Books & Arts |
The scientist-spy who spilt secrets of the bomb
Frank Close’s chronicle of atomic physicist Klaus Fuchs and his betrayal is a gem, finds Ann Finkbeiner.
- Ann Finkbeiner
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Nature Podcast |
Podcast: Cold fusion, gender parity in universities, and studying wildfires
Nick Howe brings you the latest science updates.
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Editorial |
A Google programme failed to detect cold fusion — but is still a success
Major project to reproduce controversial claims of bench-top nuclear fusion kindles debate about when high-risk research is worthwhile.
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World View |
Lessons from cold fusion, 30 years on
Why revisit long-discredited claims for a source of abundant energy, asks Philip Ball? Because we are still learning how to treat pathological science.
- Philip Ball
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News |
Google revives controversial cold-fusion experiments
Researchers tested mechanisms linked to nuclear fusion at room temperature — but found no evidence for the phenomenon.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Perspective |
Revisiting the cold case of cold fusion
Three years of investigation by a multi-disciplinary team into claims of ‘cold fusion’ found no evidence that the phenomenon exists, but identified a parameter space potentially worthy of further exploration.
- Curtis P. Berlinguette
- , Yet-Ming Chiang
- & Matthew D. Trevithick
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Letter |
Collapsars as a major source of r-process elements
A rare type of supernova—triggered by the collapse of a rapidly rotating single star—could have provided more than 80 per cent of the r-process elements in the Universe.
- Daniel M. Siegel
- , Jennifer Barnes
- & Brian D. Metzger
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News & Views |
A doubly magic nucleus that has two faces
The neutron-rich nickel nucleus 78Ni is difficult to excite and, once excited, has competing spherical and deformed shapes. These intriguing properties make 78Ni a valuable testing ground for nuclear theory.
- Gaute Hagen
- & Thomas Papenbrock
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Article |
78Ni revealed as a doubly magic stronghold against nuclear deformation
A spectroscopic study of 78Ni confirms its doubly magic nature and reveals it as a stronghold beyond which the magic numbers 28 and 50 break down because of competing deformation.
- R. Taniuchi
- , C. Santamaria
- & Z. Y. Xu
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Article |
Imaging individual barium atoms in solid xenon for barium tagging in nEXO
Single barium atoms trapped in a solid xenon matrix can be imaged and counted by scanning with a focused laser, providing a possible tagging technique for the neutrinoless-double-β-decay experiment nEXO.
- C. Chambers
- , T. Walton
- & T. Ziegler
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News |
US nuclear-weapons agency offers lifeline to elite science-advisory group
The National Nuclear Security Administration has proposed funding the storied panel known as JASON until early 2020.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News & Views |
Dark-matter detector observes exotic nuclear decay
A detector that was designed to probe dark matter, the ‘missing’ mass in the Universe, has seen an elusive nuclear decay called two-neutrino double electron capture — with implications for nuclear and particle physics.
- Jouni Suhonen
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Letter |
Observation of two-neutrino double electron capture in 124Xe with XENON1T
Two-neutrino double electron capture is observed experimentally in 124Xe with the XENON1T detector, yielding a half-life of 1.8 × 1022 years.
- E. Aprile
- , J. Aalbers
- & J. P. Zopounidis
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Books & Arts |
Chernobyl: data wars and disaster politics
Sonja Schmid extols two studies on the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe, from medical impacts to radioactive blueberries.
- Sonja Schmid
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News & Views |
Why neutrons and protons are modified inside nuclei
The structure of a neutron or a proton is modified when the particle is bound in an atomic nucleus. Experimental data suggest an explanation for this phenomenon that could have broad implications for nuclear physics.
- Gerald Feldman
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Letter |
Modified structure of protons and neutrons in correlated pairs
Simultaneous high-precision measurements of the EMC effect and short-range correlated abundances for several nuclei reveal a universal modification of the structure of nucleons in short-range correlated neutron–proton pairs.
- B. Schmookler
- , M. Duer
- & X. Zheng
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News Feature |
Beyond the periodic table
150 years after Mendeleev organized the elements by their characteristics, a special issue explores the enduring influence of this scientific masterpiece.
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News & Views |
Experimentally trained statistical models boost nuclear-fusion performance
Research into a technique called inertial confinement fusion aims to enhance nuclear-fusion performance in laboratory experiments. Improvements in the technique have been made using a clever statistical approach.
- Mark C. Herrmann
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News Feature |
Extreme chemistry: experiments at the edge of the periodic table
As the chase for new elements slows, scientists focus on deepening their understanding of the superheavy ones they already know.
- Philip Ball
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News |
Threatened UK nuclear-fusion lab secures short-term extension
The European Union-funded Joint European Torus near Oxford can operate until the end of March, but its future after Brexit is uncertain.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Letter |
The surprisingly large neutron capture cross-section of 88Zr
The thermal neutron capture cross-section of 88Zr is measured to be 861,000 ± 69,000 barns, the second-largest neutron capture cross-section ever measured.
- Jennifer A. Shusterman
- , Nicholas D. Scielzo
- & Anton P. Tonchev
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Letter |
Extreme 13C,15N and 17O isotopic enrichment in the young planetary nebula K4-47
Millimetre-wavelength observations of the bipolar planetary nebula K4-47 show very high abundances of the rare isotopes 13C, 15N and 17O, providing clues about the possible origin of the nebula.
- D. R. Schmidt
- , N. J. Woolf
- & L. M. Ziurys
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Letter |
Impact of pear-shaped fission fragments on mass-asymmetric fission in actinides
Quantum many-body calculations of superfluid fission dynamics reveal that heavy fragments from asymmetric fission of actinides are associated with considerable octupole (pear-shaped) deformation acquired on the way to fission.
- Guillaume Scamps
- & Cédric Simenel
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News |
US science academies urge expansion of fusion-energy research
A report from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for a US pilot fusion-energy plant.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News |
Taiwan’s academics urge public to vote for nuclear power shut-down
Open letter encourages voters to support the phase out of nuclear power plants in an upcoming referendum.
- Andrew Silver
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Books & Arts |
The forgotten quantum pioneer who turned wartime spy
Davide Castelvecchi enjoys the extraordinary life of Sam Goudsmit, the atomic sleuth nominated for a Nobel prize 48 times.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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News & Views |
Solar neutrinos reveal how the Sun shines
An experiment has measured the energy spectrum of solar neutrinos associated with 99% of the nuclear reactions that power the Sun. The results provide a glimpse into the depths of the solar core.
- Aldo Serenelli
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Books & Arts |
Atomic bombs through wars hot and cold
Sarah Robey examines two books that together trace the birth and evolution of the nuclear age.
- Sarah Robey
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Books & Arts |
Beyond pulp: trailblazers of science fiction’s golden age
Rob Latham savours the tumultuous tale of four men who reshaped the genre.
- Rob Latham
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Review Article |
Decoding the phase structure of QCD via particle production at high energy
By analysing particle production in high-energy nuclear collisions, the phase boundary of strongly interacting matter is located and the phase structure of quantum chromodynamics is elucidated, implying quark–hadron duality.
- Anton Andronic
- , Peter Braun-Munzinger
- & Johanna Stachel
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News |
United States woefully unprepared for nuclear strike, say scientists
Health system lacks capacity to respond to attacks that use high-powered modern weapons.
- Sara Reardon
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Letter |
Probing high-momentum protons and neutrons in neutron-rich nuclei
Electron-scattering experiments reveal that the fraction of high-momentum protons in medium-to-heavy nuclei increases considerably with neutron excess, whereas that of high-momentum neutrons decreases slightly, in contrast to shell-model predictions.
- M. Duer
- , O. Hen
- & Z. W. Zhao
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Research Highlight |
First glimpse of a giant nucleus reveals its peculiar shape
Lasers offer insight into the heaviest elements.
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News Feature |
The battle behind the periodic table’s latest additions
Four new elements were added in 2015 with great fanfare — but some researchers complain the announcement was premature.
- Edwin Cartlidge
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Books & Arts |
The triumph of random testing, a quest for ancient wine, and a history of mirages: Books in brief
Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.
- Barbara Kiser
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Letter |
A per-cent-level determination of the nucleon axial coupling from quantum chromodynamics
Lattice quantum chromodynamics and a method inspired by the Feynman–Hellmann theorem are used to make a theoretical determination of the nucleon axial coupling with a precision of one per cent, giving the value 1.271 ± 0.013.
- C. C. Chang
- , A. N. Nicholson
- & A. Walker-Loud
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Books & Arts |
Aldous Huxley’s nuclear dystopia at 70: Ape and Essence
Richard Rhodes finds resonance with today’s uneasy age.
- Richard Rhodes
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Editorial |
Brexit uncertainty threatens fusion-energy research
Confusion over UK funding from Europe’s nuclear agency is adding to the anxiety of staff at the Joint European Torus.
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Letter |
An increase in the 12C + 12C fusion rate from resonances at astrophysical energies
The rate of carbon burning—12C + 12C fusion—in stars is boosted by resonant behaviour at astrophysical energies.
- A. Tumino
- , C. Spitaleri
- & L. Trache
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Books & Arts |
The incomparable life of Nikola Tesla, inside Chernobyl, and the wilder shores of consciousness: Books in brief
Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week’s best science picks.
- Barbara Kiser
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News |
Radar reveals North Korea’s nuclear test moved a mountain
Mount Mantap shifted by more than 3 metres, but no indication of widespread collapse.
- Mark Zastrow
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News & Views |
Weak charge of the proton measured
The proton’s weak charge defines the strength of certain interactions between protons and other particles. A precise determination of this quantity provides a stringent test of the standard model of particle physics.
- Xiaochao Zheng
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News |
How science will suffer as US pulls out of Iran nuclear deal
International research collaborations could end in wake of US President Donald Trump’s decision.
- Jeff Tollefson