Whether you know it or not, nuclear-based technologies are pervasive in our daily lives. Despite the field's politicized history, nuclear physics is a great thing—and its non-weaponized applications extend harmlessly and helpfully beyond the walls of a laboratory. In this commentary, I give an overview of a subfield in nuclear physics that investigates the role of nuclear spin within the nuclear medium. I then branch into a discussion of some of my research on spin that I have done in the University of New Hampshire's Polarized Target Group and relate my work's application to medical technologies (external to UNH). From there, I explore other applications of nuclear physics in hopes of motivating future generations of researchers or sparking interest in a field that is easily misconceived.
Read full article
