The Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array (GRETA), which is installed at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University, has successfully completed a commissioning and characterization run, establishing that it is ready for scientific operations.

According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which made the announcement, the measurements that scientists make with GRETA will improve the theoretical models of the atomic nucleus that underpin research in nuclear physics, astrophysics, energy, medicine, and national security.

A plutonium target bombarded with a beam of titanium-50 in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 88-Inch Cyclotron for 22 days has yielded two atoms of the superheavy element 116, in a proof of concept that gives Berkeley Lab researchers a path to pursue the heaviest element yet—element 120. The result was announced July 23 at the Nuclear Structure 2024 conference; a paper has been submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters and published on arXiv.