News tagged with rare isotopes

Could natural nuclear reactors have boosted life on this and other planets?

While modern-day humans use the most advanced engineering to build nuclear reactors, Nature sometimes makes them by accident.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 05, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2

Argonne researchers find new isotope for climatological dating

(PhysOrg.com) -- Radioactive dating is used to determine everything from the age of dinosaur fossils to Native American arrowheads. A new technique recently developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne ...

Physics / General Physics

created May 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The importance of fundamental measurements

At the Radioactive Isotope Beam Facility (RIBF) of the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator Science in Wako, a research team has measured the time it takes for 38 extremely rare isotopes to decay by half. ...

Physics / General Physics

created May 04, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Team first to directly measure body temperatures of extinct vertebrates

Was Tyrannosaurus rex cold-blooded? Did birds regulate their body temperatures before or after they began to grow feathers? Why would evolution favor warm-bloodedness when it has such a high energy cost?

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 24, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Particle 'mousetrap' could help answer gnawing cosmic questions

Capturing fleeting bits of matter to reveal the nature of the universe is a little like trying to trap incredibly tiny, impossibly speedy mice alive.

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 29, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Mars breakthrough: Scientists uncover red planet's hot and steamy secrets

(PhysOrg.com) -- An analysis of Martian meteorites has led scientists to believe that Mars was molten for up to 100 million years after it formed, thwarting the evolution of early life on the planet.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 21, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (20) | comments 3