More than just photons

Good news! Recently, the Nature paper by Kraemer an co-authors firstly reported on the radiative decay of  ²²⁹Th's isomeric state at ~ 8 eV. In a nutshell, the experimentalists implanted ²²⁹Ac into vacuum-ultraviolet transparent crystals, in which the actinium is converted into ²²⁹Th via beta decay. After the decay, there is a non-zero probability that the decay product is in the isomeric state. With aid of this technique, photons coming from the decay of the isomer could finally be observed. This is a significant step towards the realization of the nuclear clock. In celebration of this success, Adriana was honored to write a small editorial text summing up the experimental results for a wide audience.