Could it be that human existence depends on gravitational waves? Some key elements in our biological makeup may come from astrophysical events that occur because gravitational waves exist, a research team headed by John R. ...
The first stars of the universe were monstrous beasts. Comprised only of hydrogen and helium, they could be 300 times more massive than the sun. Within them, the first of the heavier elements were formed, then cast off into ...
Astronomy
Dec 23, 2023
3
133
How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally ...
General Physics
Dec 7, 2023
0
2204
In our sun's neighborhood of the Milky Way Galaxy is a relatively bright star, and in it, astronomers have been able to identify the widest range of elements in a star beyond our solar system yet.
Astronomy
May 11, 2022
2
1178
Scientists have demonstrated the effectiveness of an innovative nuclear mass measurement method using the rare-RI ring (R3) facility at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory, and applied it to the mass measurement of a neutron-rich ...
General Physics
Apr 25, 2022
0
7
At the 2021 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics, two independent research groups will unveil new measurements aiming to explain the birth of half the universe's elements.
General Physics
Oct 12, 2021
0
98
Europium is the key for understanding the formation of the heavy elements by the fast neutron capture process, the so-called r-process. This is crucial both for the formation of half of the elements heavier than iron and ...
Astronomy
May 18, 2021
0
2421
A long-held mystery in the field of nuclear physics is why the universe is composed of the specific materials we see around us. In other words, why is it made of "this" stuff and not other stuff?
General Physics
Mar 31, 2020
2
1044
For the first time, astronomers have identified a chemical element that was freshly formed by the merging of two neutron stars. The underlying mechanism, called the r-process—also known as rapid neutron capture—is considered ...
Astronomy
Nov 7, 2019
0
62
A trio of researchers at Columbia University is suggesting that collapsar accretion disks might be the major source of the heaviest elements. In their paper published in the journal Nature, Daniel Siegel, Jennifer Barnes ...
