MIT physicists just found a way to see inside atoms

MIT’s Radical New Method Lets Scientists See Inside Atoms

MIT physicists have unveiled a groundbreaking way to explore the hidden interior of atoms, without the need for massive particle colliders. By binding radium atoms with fluoride to form radium monofluoride molecules, they used the atom’s own electrons as probes to momentarily enter the nucleus and carry back subtle “messages” about its structure. Probing the [...]

MIT physicists just found a way to see inside atoms

MIT researchers have devised a new molecular technique that lets electrons probe inside atomic nuclei, replacing massive particle accelerators with a tabletop setup. By studying radium monofluoride, they detected energy shifts showing electrons interacting within the nucleus. This breakthrough could help reveal why matter dominates over antimatter in the universe.

Physicists hope to probe standard model with misshapen radium ...

Effect never observed in a molecule could help adjudicate between competing models of nuclear structure

With a new molecule-based method, physicists peer inside an atom's nucleus

Boston MA (SPX) Oct 27, 2025 Physicists at MIT have developed a new way to probe inside an atom's nucleus, using the atom's own electrons as "messengers" within a molecule. In a study appearing in the journal Science, the physicists precisely measured the energy of electrons whizzing around a radium atom that had been paired with a fluoride atom to make a molecule of radium monofluoride. They used the environments wit

MIT Physicists Discover a Way to See Inside Atoms Using Tabletop Molecular Technique

MIT physicists have developed a molecular technique using radium monofluoride that lets electrons probe inside atomic nuclei, replacing particle accelerators and offering new insight into matter–antimatter asymmetry.

With a new molecule-based method, physicists peer inside an atom’s nucleus

Physicists at MIT have developed a new way to probe inside an atom’s nucleus, using the atom’s own electrons as “messengers” within a molecule. In a study appearing today in the journal Science, the physicists precisely measured the energy of electrons whizzing around a radium atom that had been paired with a fluoride atom to make a molecule of radium monofluoride. They used the environments within molecules as a sort of microscopic particle col…