{"id":452479,"date":"2022-05-25T10:53:54","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T07:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome\/"},"modified":"2022-05-25T10:53:54","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T07:53:54","slug":"what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome\/","title":{"rendered":"#What are nuclear isomers? And why are they so awesome?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ab6d8b2e79\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ab6d8b2e79\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome\/#%E2%80%9CWhat_are_nuclear_isomers_And_why_are_they_so_awesome%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;What are nuclear isomers? And why are they so awesome?&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome\/#On_the_hunt_for_radioactive_isotopes\" >On the hunt for radioactive isotopes<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome\/#Neutrons_complete_the_story\" >Neutrons complete the story<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome\/#Isomers_in_medicine_and_astronomy\" >Isomers in medicine and astronomy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-and-why-are-they-so-awesome\/#Isomers_in_the_future\" >Isomers in the future<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWhat_are_nuclear_isomers_And_why_are_they_so_awesome%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;What are nuclear isomers? And why are they so awesome?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            Nobel laureate Otto Hahn is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/chemistry\/1944\/hahn\/facts\/\">credited with the discovery of nuclear fission<\/a>. Fission is one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century, yet Hahn considered something else to be his <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-1-4613-0101-1\">best scientific work<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1921, he was studying radioactivity at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin, Germany, when he noticed something he could not explain. One of the elements he was working with wasn\u2019t behaving as it <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF01491321\">should have<\/a>. Hahn had unknowingly discovered the first nuclear isomer, an atomic nucleus whose protons and neutrons are arranged differently from the common form of the element, causing it to have unusual properties. It took another 15 years of discoveries in nuclear physics to be able to explain Hahn\u2019s observations.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=vlmJRrsAAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao\">We are<\/a> two <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.physics.uoguelph.ca\/people\/dennis-mucher\">professors of<\/a> <span id=\"urn:enhancement-107a9b58-d0a5-4eee-bd27-a070ab17e7bb\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.thenextweb.com\/tnw\/entity\/nuclear_physics\">nuclear physics<\/span> who study rare nuclei including nuclear isomers.<\/p>\n<p>The most common place to find isomers is inside stars, where they play a role in the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/elements-from-the-stars-the-unexpected-discovery-that-upended-astrophysics-66-years-ago-93916\">nuclear reactions that create new elements<\/a>. In recent years, researchers have begun to explore how isomers can be put to use for the benefit of humanity. They are already <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bnl.gov\/newsroom\/news.php?a=24796\">used in medicine<\/a> and could one day offer powerful options for energy storage <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/physicsworld.com\/a\/celebrating-a-century-of-nuclear-isomers\">in the form of nuclear batteries<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" srcdoc=\"&lt;style&gt;*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden}html,body{background:#000;height:100%}img{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;transition:opacity .1s cubic-bezier(0.4,0,1,1)}a:hover img+img{opacity:1!important}&lt;\/style&gt;&lt;a href=\" https:=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/yGHuZnfnUtI\/hqdefault.jpg\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">This video shows radioactive uranium-238 in a chamber full of mist. The streaks are created as particles are emitted from the radioactive sample and pass through water vapor.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"On_the_hunt_for_radioactive_isotopes\"><\/span>On the hunt for radioactive isotopes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In the early 1900s, scientists were on the hunt for new radioactive elements. An element is considered radioactive if it spontaneously releases particles in a process called <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IDkNlU7zKYU\">radioactive decay<\/a>. When this h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ens, the element is transformed over time into a different element.<\/p>\n<p>At that time, scientists relied on three criteria to discover and describe a new radioactive element. One was to look at chemical properties \u2013 how the new element reacts with other substances. They also measured the type and energy of the particles released during the radioactive decay. Finally, they would measure how fast an element decayed. Decay speeds are described using the term half-life, which is the amount of time it takes for half of the initial radioactive element to decay into something else.<\/p>\n<p>By the 1920s, physicists had discovered some radioactive substances with identical chemical properties but different half-lives. These are called isotopes. Isotopes are different versions of the same element that have the same number of protons in their nucleus, but different numbers of neutrons.<\/p>\n<p>Uranium is a radioactive element with many isotopes, two of which occur naturally on Earth. These natural uranium isotopes decay into the element thorium, which in turn decays into protactinium, and each has its own isotopes. Hahn and his colleague <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/lise-meitner-the-forgotten-woman-of-nuclear-physics-who-deserved-a-nobel-prize-106220\">Lise Meitner<\/a> were the first to discover and identify many different isotopes originating from the decay of the element uranium.<\/p>\n<p>All the isotopes they studied behaved as expected, except for one. This isotope appeared to have the same properties as one of the others, but its half-life was longer. This made no sense, as Hahn and Meitner had placed all the known isotopes of uranium in a neat classification, and there were no empty spaces to accommodate a new isotope. They called this substance \u201curanium Z.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The radioactive signal of uranium Z was about <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF01491321\">500 times weaker<\/a> than the radioactivity of the other isotopes in the sample, so Hahn decided to confirm his observations by using more material. He purchased and chemically separated uranium from 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of highly toxic and rare uranium salt. The surprising result of this second, more precise experiment suggested that the mysterious uranium Z, now known as protactinium-234, was an already known isotope, but with a very different half-life. This was the first case of an isotope with two different half-lives. Hahn published his discovery of the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF01491321\">first nuclear isomer<\/a>, even though he could not fully explain it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1387386 size-full js-lazy\" alt=\"\" width=\"416\" height=\"362\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272.jpg 416w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272-241x210.jpg 241w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272-155x135.jpg 155w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272-310x270.jpg 310w\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1387386 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"416\" height=\"362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272.jpg 416w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272-241x210.jpg 241w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272-155x135.jpg 155w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/nucleus-e1653464525272-310x270.jpg 310w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Neutrons_complete_the_story\"><\/span>Neutrons complete the story<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>At the time of Hahn\u2019s experiments in the 1920s, scientists still thought of atoms as a clump of protons surrounded by an equal number of electrons. It wasn\u2019t until 1932 that James Chadwick suggested a third particle \u2013 neutrons \u2013 were also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rspa.1932.0112\">part of the nucleus<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With this new information, physicists were im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely able to explain isotopes \u2013 they are nuclei with the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons. With this knowledge, the scientific community finally had the tools to understand uranium Z.<\/p>\n<p>In 1936 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF01497732\">Carl Friedrich von Weizs\u00e4cker proposed<\/a> that two different substances could have the same number of protons and neutrons in their nuclei but in different arrangements and with different half-lives. The arrangement of protons and neutrons that results in the lowest energy is the most stable material and is called \u2018ground state.\u2019\u00a0 Arrangements resulting in less stable, higher energies of an isotope are called isomeric states.<\/p>\n<p>At first nuclear isomers were useful in the scientific community only as a means to understand how nuclei behave. But once you understand the properties of an isomer, it\u2019s possible to start asking how they can be used.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"A person getting an injection of a fluid.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"A person getting an injection of a fluid.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" class=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/464581\/original\/file-20220520-19-ubuap7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fscience%2F2022%2F05%2F25%2Fwhat-are-nuclear-isomers-physics%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Technetium-99m is an isomer that is commonly used for diagnosing many diseases, as doctors can easily track its movement through the human body. This photo shows a medical professional injecting technetium-99m into a patient. Bionerd\/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA\" data-title=\"Share Technetium-99m is an isomer that is commonly used for diagnosing many diseases, as doctors can easily track its movement through the human body. This photo shows a medical professional injecting technetium-99m into a patient. Bionerd\/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Technetium-99m is an isomer that is commonly used for diagnosing many diseases, as doctors can easily track its movement through the human body. This photo shows a medical professional injecting technetium-99m into a patient. Bionerd\/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Technetium-99m is an isomer that is commonly used for diagnosing many diseases, as doctors can easily track its movement through the human body. This photo shows a medical professional injecting technetium-99m into a patient. Bionerd\/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Isomers_in_medicine_and_astronomy\"><\/span>Isomers in medicine and astronomy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Isomers have important applications in medicine and are used in tens of millions of diagnostic procedures annually. Since isomers undergo radioactive decay, special cameras can track them as they move through the body.<\/p>\n<p>For example, technetium-99m is an isomer of technetium-99. As the isomer decays, it emits photons. Using photon detectors, doctors can track how technetium-99m <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2967\/jnumed.116.187807\">moves throughout the body<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK559013\/\">create images<\/a> of the heart, brain, lungs, and other critical organs to help diagnose diseases including cancer. Radioactive elements and isotopes are normally dangerous because they emit charged particles that damage bodily tissues. Isomers like technetium are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4103\/0971-6203.94740\">safe for medical use<\/a> because they emit only a single, harmless photon at a time and nothing else as they decay.<\/p>\n<p>Isomers are also important in astronomy and astrophysics. Stars are fueled by the energy released during nuclear reactions. Since isomers are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4365\/abc41d\/pdf\">present in stars<\/a>, nuclear reactions are different than if a material were in its ground state. This makes the study of isomers critical for understanding how stars produce all the elements in the universe.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Isomers_in_the_future\"><\/span>Isomers in the future<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A century after Hahn first discovered isomers, scientists are still <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/d41586-022-00711-5\">discovering new isomers using powerful research facilities<\/a> around the world, including the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/frib.msu.edu\/\">Facility for Rare Isotope Beams<\/a> at Michigan State University. This facility came online in May 2022, and we hope it will unlock more than 1,000 new isotopes and isomers.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists are also investigating whether nuclear isomers could be used to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/d41586-019-02664-8\">build the world\u2019s most accurate clock<\/a> or whether isomers may one day be the basis for the next generation of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.semanticscholar.org\/paper\/Controlled-Extraction-of-Energy-from-Nuclear-Litz-Merkel\/7f0f5cb36908e0a890a21d33916f940735bd4152\">batteries<\/a>. More than 100 years after the detection of a small anomaly in uranium salt, scientists are still on the hunt for new isomers and have just begun to reveal the full potential of these fascinating pieces of physics.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/180231\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/180231\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>This article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/artemis-spyrou-358107\">Artemis Spyrou<\/a>, Professor of Nuclear Physics, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/michigan-state-university-1349\">Michigan State University<\/a>, and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/dennis-mucher-1342096\">Dennis M\u00fccher<\/a>, Associate Professor of Nuclear Physics, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-guelph-1071\">University of Guelph<\/a> is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/nuclear-isomers-were-discovered-100-years-ago-and-physicists-are-still-unraveling-their-mysteries-180231\">original article<\/a>.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/what-are-nuclear-isomers-physics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;What are nuclear isomers? And why are they so awesome?&#8221; Nobel laureate Otto Hahn is credited with the discovery of nuclear fission. Fission is one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century, yet Hahn considered something else to be his best scientific work. In 1921, he was studying radioactivity at the Kaiser Wilhelm&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":452480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/05\/physics.jpeg&signature=0dadf9ae1c4b6c6a956542d8f9bae81e","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-452479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}