A scientist in Finland discovered a new Atom that looks like a watermelon. It is called 188-astatine because it has 85 protons and 103 neutrons, and it is the heaviest Atom to exist. It is actually the first time in thirty years that the nucleus of 188-astatine was measured since 1996.

Inside the nucleus, there is a rare form of radioactive decay called proton emission, which means the proton will eject from the nucleus, turning the Atom into a different element. It is hard to study them because of their short life span.

The nucleus was created in a fusion-evaporation reaction, which means two nuclei collide to make a stronger nucleus and then evaporate into gamma rays. This happens when a high-energy excited state turns into a lower state, mostly because of a prior alpha or beta decay. After they did some test results, the Scientist discovered that the theoretical model expanded to look like a watermelon. This Change happened when the binding energy of the valence proton interacted with an unprecedented amount in heavy nuclei, which means they combined into each other to make an even more dangerous nucleus.

The scientist’s studies led to the discovery of a new type of atomic nucleus called 190-astatatine. This astatine has 85 protons and 105 neutrons. This was discovered in 2023 in Finland, but did not get released publicly until 2025, when scientists said that the research was correct.

Source:

https://www.smorescience.com/science-news-1231/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250816113512.htm

Record-Breaking “Watermelon” Nucleus Could Rewrite Atomic Science