Scientists Are Investigating If Time Warps Near a Nuclear Reactor

submitted by killerjavi98 from (futurism.com)

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[–]chadwickofwv 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

No, but it will appear that way since they are almost certainly going to use an atomic clock to test it. A nuclear reactor emits ionizing radiation which creates low levels of plasma in the surrounding area. The rate of nuclear decay changes in the presence of plasma. What will surprise them is that the atomic clock will speed up very slightly where they expect it to slow down.

[–]magnora7 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The rate of nuclear decay changes in the presence of plasma.

Is that true? I've been wondering myself if there's anything that affects nuclear decay rates, because I was always taught that it's an immutable quality of each isotope. If we could find something that reliably affects nuclear decay rates, that could teach us a lot about how the nucleus actually works.