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Editorial Briefing
Detection of the Higgs boson

Jan 2014

Detection of the Higgs boson

On July 4, 2012, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) beneath Geneva, Switzerland, the most powerful particle accelerator ever built, announced that they had detected one of the most elusive and eagerly sought prizes in all of science: the fundamental particle called the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson was a final predicted-but-missing piece in the Standard Model that physicists have used for decades to describe how the most fundamental forces and particles of nature relate to one another and give the universe its observed properties. The detection of the Higgs boson therefore validates that the Standard Model is correct, though ultimately still incomplete. See also: Higgs boson; Large Hadron Collider (LHC); Particle accelerator; Standard model

Editorial Briefing
First nuclear fusion ignition event produced in a laboratory

Feb 2023

First nuclear fusion ignition event produced in a laboratory

Since 2010, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California have sought to harness fusion, a physical process that releases energy from nuclear reactions. Nuclear fusion is the natural process that powers the Sun and other stars. Initially discovered in the 1930s, physicists have attempted to harness this process for controlled energy production ever since. Until recently, those attempts failed because more energy was required to power the reaction than was produced. However, on December 5, 2022, NIF scientists reported the first fusion reaction in a laboratory setting that produced more energy than the laser energy required to power the reaction. While there are still many hurdles to overcome, researchers are cautiously optimistic that this breakthrough could eventually lead to carbon-free fusion power plants that would aid in the fight against global climate change. In the meantime, the findings will advance NIF's research goal of helping assess the reliability and safety of the United States' nuclear weapons stockpile. See also: Energy; Global climate change; Nuclear fusion

Editorial Briefing
Mathematical approach called emulation speeds up atomic nuclei simulations

Feb 2021

Mathematical approach called emulation speeds up atomic nuclei simulations

A new mathematical approach called emulation dramatically decreases the amount of time necessary to solve equations describing key properties of atomic nuclei. The approach will help physicists run simulations far more quickly—and without the need for expensive and scarce supercomputing resources—to model the behavior of the strong nuclear interactions binding atomic nuclei together, deepening our understanding of this force of nature. See also: Atomic nucleus; Mathematics; Strong nuclear interactions; Supercomputer

Editorial Briefing
New insights into alpha particle formation

Jan 2021

New insights into alpha particle formation

Alpha particles, consisting of two protons and two neutrons but no electrons, are abundant in nature as radioactive decay products of heavy elements and familiar to us for the health risks they pose. Yet despite more than a century's-worth of investigation, where and when alpha particles form within the atomic nuclei of heavy elements, though, has remained a poorly understood process. Now new insights have come from recent experiments involving the triggering of varying alpha-particle formation rates by bombarding neutron-rich isotopes of the element tin (Sn) with high-energy proton beams. The experiments have revealed new details about the structure and distribution of protons and neutrons throughout tin nuclei. The findings should improve models of both radioactive decay and extreme cosmic objects known as neutron stars. See also: Alpha particles; Atom; Atomic nucleus; Chemical element; Helium; Neutron; Proton; Radioactivity

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