A new measurement of the strong nuclear force, which binds protons and neutrons together, confirms previous hints of an uncomfortable truth: We still don’t have a solid theoretical grasp of even the ...

Image of the emission of 4 neutrons (blue spheres) from the exotic nucleus oxygen-28, which consists of 8 protons (red spheres) and 20 neutrons. According to the traditional model, the nucleons inside ...

The protons and neutrons that build the nucleus of the atom frequently pair up. Now, a new high-precision experiment has found that these particles may pick different partners depending on how packed ...

The NeuLAND detector was used for producing and detecting the long-sought oxygen atomic nucleus 28 O for the first time. Researchers of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. A new measurement of the strong nuclear force, which binds protons and neutrons together, confirms previous hints of an uncomfortable ...