By using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that ...

Scientists studying particle collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) usually capture what happens when ...

A clock built from thorium-229 has crossed an important line, from a long-discussed concept to a working device. The shift ...

First dreamed up decades ago, the world's first nuclear clocks are set to improve quickly, becoming more precise and aiding ...

Two independent research teams have achieved a longstanding goal in physics: building a working nuclear clock. The devices, ...

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The nucleus of an atom is now the modern version of sand flowing through an hourglass. Researchers have spent 15 years trying to increase accuracy in timekeeping. The U.S. standard currently relies on ...

The time is nigh for nuclear clocks. In a first, scientists have used a tabletop laser to bump an atomic nucleus into a higher energy state. It’s a feat that sets scientists on a path toward creating ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Picture a clock ...

Atomic and molecular physics addresses the structure and interactions of atoms and molecules, uniting quantum theory with experimental observation to explain phenomena from spectral lines to collision ...

L uis Alvarez ​ gets only a bit part in Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer. In January 1939, the news arrives in Berkeley ...