They began to suspect that Fermi hadn't created a new element at all but might have actually split the uranium atom in two -- at that point a barely imaginable event. Before they could confirm ...

When Donald Trump claimed US scientists split the atom in his inaugural speech ... Fission sees the nucleus of unstable elements like uranium and plutonium split to release lots of energy.

Uranium; radiation detectors ... Otto Hahn’s name might not be familiar, but it should be. In splitting the atom, he unwittingly and single-handedly unlocked one of the most powerful forces ...

Heavy water can help keep such a chain reaction going. As each uranium atom breaks apart, it shoots out neutrons that can go on to split other atoms. But the neutrons are much more likely to ...

During nuclear fission, an unstable uranium atom is split in half, which releases a large amount of energy. Clean burning and effective, it takes only a small amount of uranium to create a large ...

And there are certain kinds of atom - like this stuff, uranium - which are unstable and can split. When they do, they release radiation and heat. The radiation is a problem because it can make ...