The nucleus of a thorium atom might make a helpful clock
RICHARD KAIL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The invention of an elusive flash of sunshine from the nucleus of the component thorium, which physicists have been looking for a long time, brings us a step nearer to constructing a nuclear clock. This may very well be essentially the most exact timepiece within the cosmos and assist probe our understanding of the universe.
You could have already heard of atomic clocks, which use the vitality ranges of electrons round a nucleus to inform time – every electron can solely have sure, fastened …