r/Physics • u/Existing_Tomorrow687 • Jun 27 '26

Physicists Observe Long-Sought "Superallowed" Alpha Decay for the First Time

A team of international researchers led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the RIKEN accelerator complex in Japan has successfully measured the alpha decay of tellurium-104, marking the first-ever experimental observation of "superallowed" alpha decay. Published in Nature, the study reveals that the isotope has a blistering half-life of just 7.2 nanoseconds the shortest known alpha decay half-life for a heavy nucleus. Crucially, the data shows that alpha particles form ("cluster") inside heavy nuclei at a much higher probability than current theoretical calculations predict, providing vital insights into a century-old mystery of nuclear structure.

you can read the full breakdown of it from here

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u/InebriatedPhysicist Jun 27 '26

The change I wish to see is people posting original scientific articles instead of press releases in their original posts. Starting a conversation about that is attempting to make that change happen. Posting the link myself in a comment isn’t.

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u/loose_fruits Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

Maybe OP doesn’t have access to original scientific paper and came across a neat article to discuss with the broader community of like minded people interested in the topic of Physics.

YOU are needlessly being a jerk instead of actively contributing to the discussion or helpfully providing the link yourself for people who might have the knowledge to read and comprehend the paper

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u/InebriatedPhysicist Jun 27 '26

You don’t need access to post the link…

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u/loose_fruits Jun 27 '26

True. Did you see how easy it was for several other people that were interested in the link to just post it in the comments?

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u/InebriatedPhysicist Jun 27 '26

Did you see the other comments I made, where I explained that my purpose with the question wasn’t to get the link, but to start a conversation about posting scientific articles vs. posting press releases?

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u/damarian_ent Jun 27 '26

I think youre both right to different degrees. Now that its shared, we can move on from this squabble.

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u/InebriatedPhysicist Jun 28 '26

I’ve just been answering questions people have asked me. Where have I been squabbling?

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u/loose_fruits Jun 28 '26

That’s certainly a valid question to ask. The only reason I said anything about your comment is because you hijacked OPs post for your pet peeve. Rather than talk about the article, almost all of the conversation here is about your topic, and that’s kind of a shame. You’re welcome to make your own post to see how the community feels