By the 1960s, the "elementary" nature of protons and neutrons was dismantled. Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig proposed that nucleons were not fundamental at all, but composite particles made of smaller building blocks called .

Suddenly, the messy world of nuclear physics became a precise game of subatomic chemistry.

But the question remained: How does a neutron turn into a proton?

Elementary particles are the foundation of nuclear physics. By studying the interactions between quarks, leptons, and bosons, scientists can unlock the secrets of how matter is formed and how energy is released at the most fundamental level.

Using isotopes for PET scans and cancer treatment.