atoms

By controlling individual atoms, researchers have demonstrated a way to turn previously unwanted atomic motion into an advantage.

First theorized in 1938, heat's wave-like flow through superfluids, known as "second sound", has proven difficult to directly observe. Now, a new technique has finally done it, and could be used to study neutron stars and high-temperature superconductors.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's new cesium fountain clock is one of the most precise atomic clocks ever created.

Physicists have used a novel technique to observe individual atoms interacting in free space for the first time ever. The new technique confirms a century-old quantum mechanical theory.

Quantum superposition is a phenomenon in which a tiny particle can be in two states at the same time — but only if it is not being directly observed.

New research suggests that most of the atoms within the human body likely spent part of their lives drifting beyond the Milky Way on a cosmic "conveyor belt," before eventually returning to our galaxy.

Atoms make up everything around us, but do these building blocks of matter ever actually touch?

Scientists have discovered a new way of creating superheavy elements by firing supercharged ion beams at dense atoms. The team believes this method could potentially help synthesize the hypothetical "element 120," which would be heavier than any known element.

A new study captured never-before-seen footage of hydrogen and oxygen atoms combining to form a miniature water droplet out of "thin air." The newly improved reaction could one day help astronauts make water in space.