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Plutonium

Plutonium is a radioactive, metallic, chemical element. It has the symbol Pu and the atomic number 94. It is the element used in most modern nuclear weapons. The most important, albeit not most stable, isotope of plutonium is 239Pu, with a half-life of 24,110 years.

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Matter & Energy News

July 29, 2025

Scientists have cracked open a mysterious layer inside batteries, using cutting-edge 3D atomic force microscopy to capture the dynamic molecular structures at their solid-liquid interfaces. These once-invisible electrical double layers (EDLs) twist, ...
Deep beneath the Swiss-French border, the Large Hadron Collider unleashes staggering amounts of energy and radiation—enough to fry most electronics. Enter a team of Columbia engineers, who built ultra-rugged, radiation-resistant chips that now ...
Researchers are exploring AI-powered digital twins as a game-changing tool to accelerate the clean energy transition. These digital models simulate and optimize real-world energy systems like wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, and biomass. But while ...
Deep in Serbia's Jadar Valley, scientists discovered a mineral with an uncanny resemblance to Superman's Kryptonite both in composition and name. Dubbed jadarite, this dull white crystal lacks the ...
A team at KAUST has revealed that the short lifespan of aqueous batteries is primarily due to "free water" molecules triggering harmful chemical reactions at the anode. By adding affordable sulfate salts like zinc sulfate, they significantly reduced ...
Aalto University physicists in Finland have set a new benchmark in quantum computing by achieving a record-breaking millisecond coherence in a transmon qubit — nearly doubling prior limits. This development not only opens the door to far more ...
Imagine concrete that not only survives wildfires and extreme weather, but heals itself and absorbs carbon from the air. Scientists at USC have created an AI model called Allegro-FM that simulates billions of atoms at once, helping design futuristic ...
Scientists have used DNA's self-assembling properties to engineer intricate moiré superlattices at the nanometer scale—structures that twist and layer like never before. With clever molecular ...
Scientists have cracked a century-old physics mystery by detecting magnetic signals in non-magnetic metals using only light and a revamped laser technique. Previously undetectable, these faint magnetic “whispers” are now measurable, revealing ...
Using advanced metasurfaces, researchers can now twist light to uncover hidden images and detect molecular handedness, potentially revolutionizing data encryption, biosensing, and drug ...
A powerful new technique harnesses swirling plasma inside laser-blasted microtubes to produce record-breaking magnetic fields—rivaling those near neutron stars—all within a compact laboratory setup. This innovation promises to transform ...
A new leap in lab automation is shaking up how scientists discover materials. By switching from slow, traditional methods to real-time, dynamic chemical experiments, researchers have created a self-driving lab that collects 10 times more data, ...

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