Newswire: 8 May 2013 - CERN - First observations of short-lived pear-shaped atomic nuclei

Geneva, 8 May 2013. An international team at the ISOLDE radioactive-beam facility at CERN* has shown that some atomic nuclei can assume asymmetric, "pear" shapes. The observations contradict some existing nuclear theories and will require others to be amended. The results are published in the journal Nature on 9 May 2013.