Latest press releases
Plutonium isotope anomalies on the Southern Hemisphere glaciers
12 December 2024
The results of the newest investigations carried out by scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN shed new light on the processes of accumulation of plutonium isotopes on glaciers of the Southern Hemisphere. Analyses of samples of cryoconite, a sediment that accumulates on glaciers, reveal not only differences in concentrations between the hemispheres but also indicate unprecedented isotope anomalies that may be related to accidents such as the fall of the Mars-96 spacecraft.
How nanostructures are created? We unveil the secrets of electrodeposition!
13 November 2024
Metallic nanoparticles, consisting of a few to several thousand atoms or simple molecules, are attracting significant interest. Electrodes coated with layers of nanoparticles (nanolayers) are particularly useful in areas such as energy production, serving as catalysts. A convenient method for producing such layers on electrodes is electrodeposition, the subtle complexities of which have just been revealed by an international team of researchers led by scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow.
Can unknown physics be seen in interactions between Higgs bosons?
6 November 2024
Since the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, there has been ongoing research there into Higgs bosons and a search for traces of physics beyond the existing model of elementary particles. Scientists working at the ATLAS detector has combined both goals: with the latest analysis it has been possible to expand our knowledge of the interactions of Higgs bosons with each other, and stronger constraints on the phenomena of ‘new physics’ have been found.
Near-earth microquasar a source of powerful radiation
17 October 2024
Modern astronomy has clung to the belief that the relativistic outflows or jets responsible for the existence of electromagnetic radiation of particularly high energies are located in the nuclei of active galaxies distant from Earth. However, a different picture of reality is emerging from the latest data from the HAWC observatory: also jets launched in astrophysical sources from our own intra-galactic ‘backyard’ turn out to be sources of gamma photons of extremely high energy.
First coherent picture of an atomic nucleus made of quarks and gluons
15 October 2024
The atomic nucleus is made up of protons and neutrons, particles that exist through the interaction of quarks bonded by gluons. It would seem, therefore, that it should not be difficult to reproduce all the properties of atomic nuclei hitherto observed in nuclear experiments using only quarks and gluons. However, it is only now that physicists, including those from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow, have succeeded in doing this.