strong nuclear force

4 posts

Clocks on the cusp of a nuclear age

7 min read
Scicomm Science caesium standard calcium fluoride fine structure constant frequency comb Indian Standard Time ISOLDE lithium strontium hexafluoroaluminate metastability nuclear clock nuclear isomer nuclear physics optical atomic clocks Planck equation strong interaction parameter strong nuclear force thorium-229 thorium-229m vacuum ultraviolet

You need three things to build a clock: an energy source, a resonator, and a counter. In an analog wrist watch, for example, a small battery is the energy source that sends a small electric signal to…

Scientists make video of molecule rotating

4 min read
Scicomm carbonyl sulphide classical mechanics Coulomb explosion electromagnetic force Heisenberg's uncertainty principle laser Quantum mechanics quantum superposition strong nuclear force velocity map imaging spectrometer weak nuclear force

A research group in Germany has captured images of what a rotating molecule looks like. This is a significant feat because it is very difficult to observe individual atoms and molecules, which are ver…

The secrets of how planets form

9 min read
Uncategorized astrophysics Beta Pictoris b centrifugal force curve plotting escape velocity exoplanets gravitation Kuiper Belt monomial neutron stars non-linearity planet formation Solar System spin-mass correlation strong nuclear force

Astronomers who were measuring the length of one day on an exoplanet for the first time were in for a surprise: it was shorter than any planet's in the Solar System. Beta Pictoris b, orbiting the…