Sodium on Steroids: A Nuclear Physics Breakthrough Thought To Be Impossible — Nuclear physicists have ma |
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Nuclear physicists have made the most neutron-rich form of sodium yet, which will help reveal more about the complex world of nuclei.Na, which was previously believed to be impossible. This breakthrough has major implications for understanding atomic nuclei structure and the creation of Earth’s heavier elements.
But far more than being a scientific curiosity, this finding has important implications for theories on the structure of atomic nuclei. This knowledge in turn informs our understanding of the astrophysical processes that form Earth’s heavier elements. This in turn has implications for our understanding about the origins of heavier elements. For example, the nuclear astrophysical processes that create Earth’s heavy metals are thought to be the result of the huge amounts of energy produced by the merger of two neutron stars or collisions of neutron stars and black holes. The gas and dust released eventually contribute to the rare materials of planets, such as Earth. However, the exact processes that produce heavy metals have long been debated.
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