An atom consists of a heavy center, called the nucleus, made of particles called protons and neutrons. An atom has lighter ...

Scientists have discovered ancient helium in volcanic rocks, indicating the element may be leaking from Earth's core. fpm/E+/Getty Images Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter .

Helium is the simplest element in the periodic table with more than one particle in its nucleus, yet state of the art theory and experiments on it don't add up.

The word magic is not often used in the context of science. But in the early 1930s, scientists discovered that some atomic ...

Neutral helium microscopy and atom optics constitute an innovative imaging paradigm that exploits low-energy, charge-neutral helium atoms to non-destructively investigate surface properties at the ...

The question of where atoms come from requires a lot of physics to be answered completely – and even then, physicists only have good guesses to explain how some atoms are formed.

The number of protons in an atom of any given element is always the same. Physicists call this the atomic number.So, in the above example of lead, its atomic number is 82 and that does not change ...

Learn about elements, compounds and mixtures in this KS3 Chemistry guide from BBC Bitesize.

Many heavy atoms form from a supernova explosion, the remnants of which are shown in this image. NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage ...

Scientists have discovered ancient helium in volcanic rocks, indicating the element may be leaking from Earth's core. fpm/E+/Getty Images Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter .