Some atoms are stable, while others seem to fall apart. Lead-208 will probably last forever, while the synthetic isotope technetium-99 exists for just hours. The difference lies in the structure of ...

For decades, nuclear physicists believed that "Islands of Inversion"—regions where the normal rules of nuclear structure suddenly break down—were found mostly in neutron-rich isotopes. In these ...

Atomic nuclei are often described as orderly systems. Certain numbers of protons or neutrons, called magic numbers, usually produce especially stable and spherical nuclei.