Isotopes are variants of a particular chemical element that share the same number of protons but differ in the number of neutrons within their atomic nuclei. This variation in neutron count results in isotopes having different mass numbers, though they maintain the same chemical properties because they have the same number of electrons. Isotopes can be either stable or radioactive. Stable isotopes do not change over time, while radioactive isotopes decay into other elements and emit radiation, a process that can be utilized in various applications including medical imaging, cancer treatment, and archaeological dating. The study of isotopes plays a crucial role in fields such as chemistry, physics, biology, and environmental science, providing insights into the processes of Earth’s climate history, biological cycles, and nuclear reactions.
This research highlights that both early melting-volatilization and late accretion of volatile-rich materials are integral to understanding the distribution of nitrogen in silicate Earth. These…
Theoretical physicists and experimentalists launched precision measurements on aluminum-22 to explore its proton halo, blending advanced research with student involvement in nuclear physics. In May…
International research team creates 5 new isotopes. An international research team at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University has successfully…
Scientists at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), along with their collaborators, have created two novel isotopes—osmium-160 and…
Researchers from Heidelberg and Karlsruhe use stalagmite for the reconstruction of regional and global climatic history. Tree-ring data, when integrated with information from stalagmites, has…
The study of physical systems under extreme conditions offers valuable insights into their organization and structure. In the realm of nuclear physics, neutron-rich isotopes, particularly…
In a remarkable scientific breakthrough researchers have discovered the lightest isotope of the rare and rapidly decaying element, astatine. The discovery of 190-Astatine was made…
A new atomic nucleus 149-Lutetium, consisting of 71 protons and 78 neutrons, has been synthesized in an experiment performed in the Accelerator Laboratory of University…
Spartans joined an international team to create an isotope of magnesium that’s never been seen before. In collaboration with an international team of researchers, Michigan…
New finding could help inform how zeolites are used in carbon capture and storage. First study to analyze the calcium isotope composition of zeolite minerals…
Shelled organisms helped buffer ocean acidification by consuming less alkalinity from seawater. Third recent Northwestern study to detect calcification stress before and across ancient ocean…
Scientists from the University of Surrey and the FRIB Laboratory at MSU teamed up to explore the origin of aluminum-26, a rare isotope that offers a window…
What Are Isotopes? A family of people often consists of related but not identical individuals. Elements have families as well, known as isotopes. Isotopes are…
While exposure to low-dose-rate radiation from cosmic radiation and natural radioactive isotopes in the environment is part of everyday life, a new study from MIT…
While analyzing samples of submarine volcanic glass near subduction zones, scientists found something unexpected. They saw changes in isotopes of hydrogen and boron from the…