Number 29 (Story #2), April 11, 1991 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein DO NUCLEAR MOLECULES EXIST? Experiments at the Nuclear Structure Facility at Daresbury, England (a lab which may be closed because of budget cuts) indicate that during collisions nuclei sometimes behave as if they were "molecules" made up of discrete groups of nucleons rather than the more traditional "shells." For example, 24Mg nuclei can behave during collisions like a combination of two 12C nuclei; an 16O nucleus at times looks like an alpha particle (itself a nuclear fragment consisting of two neutrons and two protons) and a 12C nucleus in orbit around each other. At Daresbury, researchers are searching for a hyperdeformed version of 24Mg consisting of six alpha particles lined up in a row. (New Scientist, 6 April 1991.)