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Scientists Capture the X-ray Fingerprint of a Single Atom for the First Time — And This Could Change Everything

The achievement has potential implications from medicine to materials science.

Chemists use soccer-ball-shaped molecules to form the first one-dimensional gas

University of Nottingham scientists created a one-dimensional gas by trapping krypton atoms in carbon nanotubes, offering new insights into atomic interactions.

What are isotopes: everything you need to know

Calling them 'fatter atoms' is considered rude.

The Plum Pudding Model: how a flawed idea was instrumental in our understanding of the atom

The tale of how an old British cake influenced leading physicists.

What is the Electron Cloud Model: this is how electrons inside an atom really behave

From the ancient Greeks to quantum mechanics, the model of the atom has gone through many iterations.

What are the strong chemical bonds?

They really tie the room together.

An AI recreated the periodic table from scratch -- in a couple of hours

Nerd.

Researchers create gigantic atom filled with 100 other atoms

No fat shaming in physics!

Scientists win photo contest with image of a single, trapped atom

A single atom, trapped in time and space.

We really are made of star stuff: half of the atoms inside us come from intergalactic space

Aside from the romantic aspect, the study also offers an important scientific perspective.

Single-atom magnets used to create data storage one million times more dense than regular hard disks

Scaled up, it will likely lose some efficiency -- but will still leave HDDs in the dust.

Tightest molecular knot could lead to better, stronger materials

It was made from strands made of over 190 atoms coiled around a triple loop which crosses itself eight times.

Scientists cool molecules just a hair over absolute zero (1,000,000 times colder than space)

In a breakthrough moment, researchers at MIT successfully cooled sodium potassium gas molecules (NaK) near absolute zero. At this temperature, matter behaves significantly different and starts exhibiting quantum effects. This is the coldest any molecule has been recorded ever.

Coldest atom cloud in the world chills other matter close to absolute zero

For the first time, researchers at the University of Basel used an ultracool atomic gas to cool a very thin membrane to less than one degree Kelvin. The new technique might enable novel investigations of quantum mechanics phenomena and precision measuring devices. Coldest matter in the world lends its freeze In the ultracold world, produced […]

Researchers capture sound from atoms, opening new doors to quantum research

Most quantum research is focused on studying interactions between light and atoms, a field known as quantum optics. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden took an alternate route and demonstrated for the first time that acoustic waves could be used to communicate with an atom. The findings could provide an important stepping stone for […]

Nickel-78: a 'doubly magic' isotope

Some atoms are more stable than others, and the same goes for their isotopes – elements that have the same number of protons in the nucleus, but different number of neutrons. For instance, some decay in a trillionth of a second, while others can live on for billions of years. Actually, using isotopes (thorium and […]

Smallest Swiss cross made of only 20 atoms demonstrates atom manipulation at room temp

Some applications require such a degree of precision that everything needs to be in exact order at the atom-scale. In an awesome feat of atomic manipulation,  physicists from the University of Basel,  in cooperation with team from Japan and Finland, have placed 20 atoms atop an insulated surface in the shape of a Swiss cross. Such […]

High power laser hallows atom from the inside out

An international team of physicists have used one of the world’s most powerful lasers to create an unusual kind of plasma made out of hollow atoms, by using a breakthrough technique which involved emptying atoms of electrons from the inside out, instead of working from the outer shells inwards.  This bizarre physics experiment shows once again […]

Scientists split an atom in two and then fuse it back together

Atom = at·om, noun \ˈa-təm\, from the greek  ἄτομος (atomos) meaning “indivisible”. Apparently the atom isn’t that indivisible after all. Scientists at the University of Bonn have managed to split an atom into two with a special laser, in special conditions, before merging it back together. Just like in the case of light, quantum mechanics allowed an atom to be split […]

Captured: first ever images of atom moving inside a molecule

A Romanian scientist working at the University of Ohio captured the first-ever images of atoms moving within a molecule by applying a novel technique which basically turns the electrons of a molecule into flashbulbs; while this is currently only a new way to visualize molecules, researchers believe that one day it will be the key […]

Atom nuclei can store information

In case you’re wondering, what you’re looking at is a silicon chip, only 1 millimeter square that was used by researchers to prove how data can be stored in the magnetic spin of atoms – and how it can then be accessed electronically. Physicists from the University of Utah have managed to store information in […]

Large Hadron Collider creates mini big bangs and incredible heat

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN has taken another step towards its goal of finding the so called ‘god particle‘: it recently produced the highest temperatures ever obtained through a science experiment. The day before yesterday, 7 November was a big one at the LHC, as the particle collider started smashing lead ions head-on instead […]

LHC produces first results

Since the Large Hadron Collider went back in business, all sort of rumors have been circling the scientific circles (and not only). However, until these rumors are proven wrong or right, the first official paper on proton collisions from the Large Hadron Collider has been published in this week’s edition of Springer’s European Physical Journal […]

New chemical element in the Periodic Table!

Were you one of those students who used to complain about all those chemical elements you had to study at school? Well, I guess this particular piece of news will not exactly make you celebrate. It seems that chemistry has yet a lot more to offer as the element 112 has just been recognised by […]