A revolutionary achievement could pave the way for smaller, more efficient nuclear clocks. Last year, a research team led by UCLA achieved a milestone scientists had pursued for half a century. They s ...

Last year, a UCLA-led team accomplished something scientists have been trying to do for 50 years. They made radioactive thorium nuclei absorb and ...

Atomic clocks that excite the nucleus of thorium-229 embedded in a transparent crystal when hit by a laser beam could yield the most accurate measurements ever of time and gravity, and even rewrite ...

Are you intrigued by the possibility of using nuclear reactors to curb emissions, but worried about their water use and long-term safety? There might be an impending solution. LiveScience reports that ...

We took a look at the element tritium a short time ago. A "high octane" and ultra-rare nuclear isotope of which we have a global supply you could fit in an XL-sized suitcase. A supply that small could ...

What if the key to solving the world’s energy crisis has been hiding in plain sight, buried within the Earth’s crust? Imagine an energy source that is not only abundant and efficient but also safer ...

In August 2021, China announced the completion of its first experimental thorium-based nuclear reactor. Built in the middle of the Gobi Desert in the country’s north, the reactor over the next few ...

In 2008, a team of UCLA-led scientists proposed a scheme to use a laser to excite the nucleus of thorium atoms to realize extremely accurate, portable clocks. Last year, they realized this ...