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To probe the evolution of atomic nuclei with different shape -- a factor which affects atomic stability -- a large team of international researchers has added neutrons to zirconium atoms and revealed the possibility of very unusual shapes. "The shape of a nucleus reflects the symmetry of its quantum state," explains team member Hiroyoshi Sakurai from the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science in Wako, Japan.

At the Radioactive Isotope Beam Facility (RIBF) of the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator Science in Wako, a research team has measured the time it takes for 38 extremely rare isotopes to decay by half. This is the first study of half-lives for 18 of the isotopes. The data provide a long-awaited test of theoretical predictions of the rate at which these isotopes decay, and will help nuclear physicists to understand a fundamental source of many of the atomic elements and their isotopes