(Press-News.org) This press release is available in German.
So-called "superheavy" elements owe their very existence exclusively to shell effects within the atomic nucleus. Without this stabilization they would disintegrate in a split second due to the strong repulsion between their many protons. The constituents of an atomic nucleus, the protons and neutrons, organize themselves in shells. Certain "magic" configurations with completely filled shells render the protons and neutrons to be more strongly bound together.
Long-standing theoretical predictions suggest that also in superheavy elements, filled proton and neutron shells will give rise to extraordinarily stable and hence long-lived nuclei: the "Island of stability". Still, after decades of research, its exact location on the chart of nuclei is a topic of intense discussions and no consensus has yet been reached. While some theoretical models predict a magic proton number to be at element 114, others prefer element 120 or even 126. Another burning question is whether nuclei situated on the island will live "only" hundreds or maybe thousands or even millions of years. Anyway, all presently known superheavy elements are short-lived and none have been found in nature yet.
Precise information on the strength of shell effects that enhance binding energies of protons and neutrons for filled shells is a key ingredient for more accurate theoretical predictions. As the binding energy is directly related to the mass via Einstein's famous equation E=mc2, the weighing of nuclei provides access to the nuclear binding energies and thus the strength of the shell effects. With the ion-trap facility SHIPTRAP, presently the most precise balance for weighing the heaviest elements, a series of very heavy atomic nuclei in the region of the magic neutron number N=152 have now been weighed with utmost precision for the first time. The studies at hand focused on nobelium (element 102) and lawrencium (element 103). These elements do not exist in nature, so the scientists produced them at the GSI's particle accelerator facility and captured them in the SHIPTRAP. The measurements had to be performed with just a handful of atoms: for the isotope lawrencium-256 just about 50 could be studied during a measurement time of about 93 hours.
The new data will benchmark the best present models for the heaviest atomic nuclei and provide an important stepping stone to further refining the models. This will lead to more precise predictions on the location and extension of the "Island of stability" of superheavy elements.
INFORMATION:
The experiments were carried out by an international team led by scientists of GSI and the Helmholtz-Institute Mainz (HIM) in collaboration with scientists from the universities of Giessen, Granada (Spain), Greifswald, Heidelberg, Mainz, Munich und Padua (Italy), as well as the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics Heidelberg and the PNPI St. Petersburg (Russia).
Original publication:
E. Minaya Ramirez et al. "Direct mapping of nuclear shell effects in the heaviest elements" von, Science 2012
DOI: 10.1126/science.1225636
Contact to scientists:
Dr. Michael Block
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung
Planckstrasse 1
64291 Darmstadt
http://www.gsi.de
Prof. Dr. Christoph E. Düllmann
Helmholtz Institut Mainz und Institut für Kernchemie
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität
55099 Mainz
http://www.helmholtz.de/en/research/promoting_research/helmholtz_institutes/helm...
http://www.kernchemie.uni-mainz.de/eng/index.php
Prof. Klaus Blaum
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
Saupfercheckweg 1
69117 Heidelberg
http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de
Prof. Lutz Schweikhard
Institut für Physik
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald
17487 Greifswald
http://www.physik.uni-greifswald.de/physik01
Priv. Doz. Dr. Peter G. Thirolf
Fakultät für Physik der Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität
Am Coulombwall 1
85748 Garching
http://www.en.physik.uni-muenchen.de/index.html
Dr. Wolfgang Plaß
II. Physikalisches Institut
Justus-Liebig Universität
Heinrich-Buff-Ring 14
35392 Gießen
http://pcweb.physik.uni-giessen.de/exp2
Stabilizing shell effects in heaviest elements directly measured
Results will help to pin down the 'Island of Stability'
2012-08-10
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Team creates new view of body's infection response
2012-08-10
A new 3-D view of the body's response to infection – and the ability to identify proteins involved in the response – could point to novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents for infectious diseases.
Vanderbilt University scientists in multiple disciplines combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and imaging mass spectrometry to visualize the inflammatory response to a bacterial infection in mice. The techniques, described in Cell Host & Microbe and featured on the journal cover, offer opportunities for discovering proteins not previously implicated in the inflammatory response.
Access ...
The earthquake risk and Europe
2012-08-10
How strong can earthquakes in Germany be? Where in Europa are the earthquake activities concentrated? These questions are the basis for risk assessments and become relevant when it comes to the safety of buildings or the generation of tsunami.For the first time, scientists of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences have succeeded in setting up a harmonized catalogue of earthquakes for Europe and the Mediterranean for the last thousand years. This catalogue consists of about 45000 earthquakes, reported in the latest issue of the „Journal of Seismology".
Earthquakes ...
Researchers combine remote sensing technologies for highly detailed look at coastal change
2012-08-10
Athens, Ga. – Shifting sands and tides make it difficult to measure accurately the amount of beach that's available for recreation, development and conservation, but a team of University of Georgia researchers has combined several remote sensing technologies with historical data to create coastal maps with an unsurpassed level of accuracy.
In a study published in the August issue of the journal Tourism Management, they apply their technique to Georgia's Jekyll Island and unveil a new website that allows developers, conservationists and tourists access to maps and data ...
Hepatitis A vaccination in children under 2 remains effective for 10 years
2012-08-10
Vaccination against the hepatitis A virus (HAV) in children two years of age and younger remains effective for at least ten years, according to new research available in the August issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The study found that any transfer of the mother's HAV antibodies does not lower the child's immune response to the vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1.4 million cases of HAV occur worldwide each year. HAV affects the liver and typically occurs in areas with poor sanitation ...
Why living in the moment is impossible
2012-08-10
The sought-after equanimity of "living in the moment" may be impossible, according to neuroscientists who've pinpointed a brain area responsible for using past decisions and outcomes to guide future behavior. The study, based on research conducted at the University of Pittsburgh and published today in the professional journal Neuron, is the first of its kind to analyze signals associated with metacognition—a person's ability to monitor and control cognition (a term cleverly described by researchers as "thinking about thinking.")
"The brain has to keep track of decisions ...
Freezing magnetic monopoles
2012-08-10
Magnetic monopoles, entities with isolated north or south magnetic poles, weren't supposed to exist. If you try to saw a bar magnet in half, all you succeed in getting are two magnets, each with a south and north pole. In recent years, however, the existence of monopoles, at least in the form of "quasiparticles" consisting of collective excitations among many atoms, has been predicted and demonstrated in the lab. Now Stephen Powell, a scientist at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI*) and the University of Maryland, has sharpened the theoretical framework under which ...
NASA sees very heavy rainfall within Tropical Storm Ernesto
2012-08-10
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, known as TRMM can measure the rate rain is falling with a tropical cyclone from its orbit in space, and data from August 9 reveals areas of heavy rainfall in Tropical Storm Ernesto as it heads for a second landfall in Mexico.
The TRMM satellite saw tropical storm Ernesto on August 9, 2012 at 0656 UTC (2:36 a.m. EDT) after it moved from the Yucatan Peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico. An analysis of TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) rainfall shows that powerful convective thunderstorms were dropping ...
NASA sees Tropical Storm Kirogi headed for cooler waters
2012-08-10
Sea surface temperatures cooler than 80 degrees Fahrenheit can sap the strength from a tropical cyclone and Tropical Storm Kirogi is headed toward waters below that threshold on its track through the northwestern Pacific Ocean, according to data from NASA's Aqua satellite.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Kirogi on August 9 at 0241 UTC. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of the cloud temperatures that showed a concentrated area of strongest storms and heaviest rainfall west of the center of circulation. Vertical ...
Height, weight and BMI changes seen in children treated with peginterferon alpha for hepatitis C
2012-08-10
Follow-up research from the Pediatric Study of Hepatitis C (PEDS-C) trial reveals that children treated with peginterferon alpha (pegIFNα) for hepatitis C (HCV) display significant changes in height, weight, body mass index (BMI), and body composition. Results appearing in the August issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, indicate that most growth-related side effects are reversible with cessation of therapy. However, in many children the height-for-age score had not returned to baseline two years after stopping ...
BUSM/VA researchers uncover gender differences in the effects of long-term alcoholism
2012-08-10
(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System have demonstrated that the effects on white matter brain volume from long-term alcohol abuse are different for men and women. The study, which is published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, also suggests that with abstinence, women recover their white matter brain volume more quickly than men.
The study was led by Susan Mosher Ruiz, PhD, postdoctoral research scientist in the Laboratory for Neuropsychology at BUSM and research ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
AI algorithm based on routine mammogram + age can predict women’s major cardiovascular disease risk
New hurdle seen to prostate screening: primary-care docs
MSU researchers explore how virtual sports aid mental health
Working together, cells extend their senses
Cheese fungi help unlock secrets of evolution
Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking
Mental health effects of exposure to firearm violence persist long after direct exposure
Research identifies immune response that controls Oropouche infection and prevents neurological damage
University of Cincinnati, Kent State University awarded $3M by NSF to share research resources
Ancient DNA reveals deeply complex Mastodon family and repeated migrations driven by climate change
Measuring the quantum W state
Researchers find a way to use antibodies to direct T cells to kill Cytomegalovirus-infected cells
Engineers create mini microscope for real-time brain imaging
Funding for training and research in biological complexity
The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: September 12, 2025
ISSCR statement on the scientific and therapeutic value of human fetal tissue research
Novel PET tracer detects synaptic changes in spinal cord and brain after spinal cord injury
Wiley advances Knowitall Solutions with new trendfinder application for user-friendly chemometric analysis and additional enhancements to analytical workflows
Benchmark study tracks trends in dog behavior
OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Google vary widely in identifying hate speech
Research spotlight: Study identifies a surprising new treatment target for chronic limb threatening ischemia
Childhood loneliness and cognitive decline and dementia risk in middle-aged and older adults
Parental diseases of despair and suicidal events in their children
Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults
Acupuncture treatment improves disabling effects of chronic low back pain in older adults
How interstellar objects similar to 3I/ATLAS could jump-start planet formation around infant stars
Rented e-bicycles more dangerous than e-scooters in cities
Ditches as waterways: Managing ‘ditch-scapes’ to strengthen communities and the environment
In-situ molecular passivation enables pure-blue perovskite LEDs via vacuum thermal evaporation
Microscopes can now watch materials go quantum with liquid helium
[Press-News.org] Stabilizing shell effects in heaviest elements directly measuredResults will help to pin down the 'Island of Stability'