Key Takeaways ・Scientists have used laser-excited thorium-229 to probe for ultralight dark matter, even without a fully built nuclear clock. ・Thorium-229’s unique nuclear transition offers up to a ...

Nuclear isomer: A metastable state of a nucleus with a measurable half-life distinct from the ground state. Radiative decay: The process by which an excited nuclear state emits a photon as it ...

Researchers have just created a new super-heavy isotope of seaborgium, called seaborgium-257. This type of unstable atom does not exist naturally on Earth. Seaborgium-257 lasts for ...

Thorium-229 exhibits a uniquely low-energy nuclear isomeric state that has attracted considerable attention for its potential application in next‐generation nuclear clocks. Unlike typical ...