Take a closer look at the atomic nucleus, from the ancient Greek idea of the atom to its cutting-edge practical applications

The Greek philosopher Democritus first proposed that the Universe was built from indivisible building blocks, or atomos, in roughly 400 BCE. This animation from physicists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia, takes viewers from Democritus’ theory of matter to our understanding of nature’s building blocks as it stands today, with cutting-edge visualisations rendering nuclei at the quantum level. Through this imagery, the video explores how the peculiar quantum world of the nucleus gives rise to our own – and, by extension, to ourselves.

Via Kottke
Video by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Producers: Rolf Ent, Richard Milner, James LaPlante

Animator: Sputnik Animation

Source: Groundbreaking visualisations show how the world of the nucleus gives rise to our own | Aeon Videos