
An international team led by scientists at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams has identified the source of a mysterious excess of low-energy gamma rays emitted by the nucleus zinc-70, tracing it to magnetic transitions inside the nucleus rather than the electric ones long assumed. Published in Nature, the finding resolves a long-standing puzzle in nuclear physics that could improve models of how stars, supernovae, and neutron star mergers forge the universe's heaviest elements.
Tech · Aug 1 · L1-L4