Have you ever wondered how long it took our Sun to form in its stellar nursery? An international collaboration of scientists is now closer to an answer. They succeeded in the measurement of the bound-state beta decay of fully-ionised thallium ions at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI/FAIR. This measurement has profound effects on the production of radioactive lead in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and can be used to help determine the Sun’s formation time. The results ...

Where does the periodic table of chemical elements end and which processes lead to the existence of heavy elements? An international research team reports on experiments performed at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility and at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz to come closer to an answer. They gained insight into the structure of atomic nuclei of fermium (element 100) with different numbers of neutrons. Using forefront laser spectroscopy techniques, they traced the evolution of the nuclear charge…

An international team led by scientists of GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz, succeeded in determining the chemical properties of the artificially produced superheavy elements moscovium and nihonium (elements 115 and 113). Moscovium thus becomes the heaviest element ever chemically studied. Both of the newly characterized elements are more chemically reactive than flerovium (element 114), which was previously studied at GSI/FAIR. The…

With funding of four million euros as part of the ‘EU MSCA Doctoral Networks’, and additional funding of 600 000 euros through the Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation SERI, the European research project ‘UPLIFT’ was recently launched, aiming to expand the perspectives of tumor therapy with an innovative approach. The project is led by GSI scientists Professor Christian Graeff and Dr. Lennart Volz. It brings together 15 leading ...

Dr. Zewei Xiong has received a prestigious ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The funding is one of Europe's most important research awards, aimed at talented young scientists at an early career stage to show their potential as a research leader. Dr. Zewei Xiong is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Nuclear Astrophysics and Structure Department at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung.

The lecture series „Wissenschaft für Alle“ of GSI and FAIR will be continued as a hybrid format in the second half of 2024. Interested parties can either attend the event in the lecture hall of GSI/FAIR following a registration or dial into the broadcast of the event via video conference using an internet-enabled device such as a laptop, cell phone or tablet. The program will begin on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, with a talk about the evolution of the Universe by Professor Karlheinz Langanke of…

The starting signal for the installation of the FAIR accelerator machine has been given. The high-precision assembly work in the buildings of the international FAIR accelerator facility in Darmstadt has begun: The first magnets each weighing tons were successfully positioned in the ring tunnel, 17 meters underground. This marks a decisive step forward in the realization of the state-of-the-art accelerator, which will accelerate ions of all elements up to 99 percent of the speed of light...

For the first time, an international research team, led by GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, the Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU) in Saclay, France, and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg (MPIK) has succeeded in observing a two-photon decay on a so-called bare atomic nucleus from which the entire electron shell has been removed. The measurements on germanium-72 nuclei were carried out as part of the FAIR Phase 0 experimental program at the…

The employees of GSI and FAIR mourn the loss of their former division head Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Peter Armbruster (* 25.7.1931, † 26.6.2024), who passed away at the age of 92. Peter Armbruster created and achieved groundbreaking research in his long and fulfilling life. This applies in particular to his achievements for and at GSI, where he was a leading scientist and a longstanding member of the Scientific Directorate from 1971 to 1996.