New studies of the “platypus of materials” help explain how their atoms arrange themselves into orderly, but nonrepeating, ...

"The magic numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82 and 126," said David Jenkins, a nuclear physicist at the University of York in the U.K. "If you take the lightest one — two protons and two neutrons — ...

New simulations of neutron star mergers reveal that the mixing and changing of tiny particles called neutrinos impacts how ...

The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2025 honors scaled-up quantum physics—while sidestepping controversies swirling around quantum ...

Deep beneath South Dakota, scientists are closing in on one of the greatest mysteries in the universe — the true nature of ...

Think of it this way: if you roll a ball toward a wall, it will bounce back. That’s normal physics. But in the quantum world, a tiny particle might sometimes pass straight through the wall, as if the ...

An element's atomic number defines it. An element with 17 protons will always be chlorine. However an element's mass numbers can vary, which means that it can have different numbers of neutrons. So ...

Scientists may have finally uncovered the mystery behind ultra-high-energy cosmic rays — the most powerful particles known in ...

“Curious people,” according to Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez, “had the right to exhibit a controlled disrespect ...

Could black holes help explain the origins of high-energy cosmic radiation? The universe is filled with many forms of ...

For example, the atomic number of chlorine is 17. Every chlorine atom has 17 protons and 17 electrons. It has 17 positive charges and 17 negative charges, meaning that it is neutral overall. Atoms of ...