Japanese researchers say they have found a new so-called "magic number" -- a key to determining when atomic nuclei have become stable.
In a study published in the British science journal Nature, the researchers at Riken, the University of Tokyo and other institutions say an experiment using a particle accelerator indicated that 34 is another magic number.
Atomic nuclei become stable when the number of protons or neutrons they contain are equal to certain numbers. Ten such numbers, ranging from 2 to 126, had previously been identified. Physicists call them "magic numbers."
Chief researcher at RIKEN, Hiroyoshi Sakurai, says magic numbers can reveal how individual elements were created in the universe.
NewsOnJapan
