A physicist explains how atoms arrange themselves into molecules – and how scientists are able to image these tiny bits of matter that make up everything around you.
Protons and neutrons in an atom’s nucleus can be arranged in different configurations, creating nuclear isomers.
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Nuclear isomers are rare versions of elements with properties that mystified physicists when first discovered. Isomers are now used in medicine and astronomy, and researchers are set to discover thousands more of them.
Neutrons have many applications in scientific and medical research.
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Neutrons are useful in research and medicine. A proposed neutron production facility could help further Canadian research and provide a source of neutrons for medical purposes.
Diligence, technological progress and a little luck have together solved a 20 year mystery of the cosmos.
CSIRO/Alex Cherney
Cosmologists had only been able to find half the matter that should exist in the universe. With the discovery of a new astronomical phenomenon and new telescopes, researchers just found the rest.
Lise Meitner was left off the publication that eventually led to a Nobel Prize for her colleague.
Left off publications due to Nazi prejudice, this Jewish woman lost her rightful place in the scientific pantheon as the discoverer of nuclear fission.
iThemba LABS provides support for research and training to all universities.
iThemba LABS
A particle physicist explains just what this keystone theory includes. After 50 years, it’s the best we’ve got to answer what everything in the universe is made of and how it all holds together.
For the first time, human beings harnessed the power of atomic fission.
Keith Ruffles
By figuring out fission, physicists were able to split uranium atoms and release massive amounts of energy. This Manhattan Project work paved the way both for atomic bombs and nuclear power reactors.
The Chalk River Laboratories in 2012. Canada’s role as a world leader in neutron-scattering is at risk because of a failure to invest in infrastructure renewal at the facility.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canada is a world leader in the field of neutron scattering, winning a Nobel Prize in 1994 for its invention. But the looming shutdown of facilities at Chalk River puts us on the sidelines.
Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita after he won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Arthur B McDonald of Canada.
EPA Franck Robichon