Alpha decay represents a fundamental mode of radioactive disintegration wherein an unstable nucleus emits an alpha particle—a tightly bound cluster of two protons and two neutrons. This process not ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Voyager 1, shown in this illustration, has operated for decades thanks to a radioisotope power system. NASA via AP Powering ...

If you need to send something far from a recharge outlet, then you’re going need a nuclear battery. These long-running power sources come in all shapes and sizes, and have many different methods for ...

Photograph of an optically trapped microparticle in high vacuum. The microparticle is visible as a white dot levitated between two lenses, which are used to focus and collect the invisible infrared ...

Alpha particle radioluminescence detection and imaging is an advanced optical technique that capitalises on the light emitted when alpha particles interact with air molecules. When alpha particles – ...

Working at a nuclear research centre as I do, I found Justin Mullins’s article on seasonal variations in radioactive decay most intriguing (27 June, p 42). The most dramatic change in radioactive ...