We sliced open radioactive particles from soil in South Australia and found they may be leaking plutonium

By Barbara Etschmann, Research officer, Monash University
Joel Brugger, Professor of Synchrotron Geosciences, Monash University
Vanessa Wong, Associate Professor, Monash University

Almost 60 years after British nuclear tests ended, radioactive particles containing plutonium and uranium still contaminate the landscape around Maralinga in outback South Australia.

These “hot particles” are not as stable as we once assumed. Our research shows they are likely releasing tiny chunks of plutonium and uranium which can be easily transported in dust and water, inhaled by humans and wildlife and taken up by plants.

A British nuclear playground

After the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima…

Read complete article

~	Will Solomon Islands’ new leader stay close to China?

~	Ukraine: Russian Forces Executed Surrendering Ukraine Soldiers

~	Kenya: Floods Threaten Marginalized People

~	Resounding Support for a ‘Killer Robots’ Treaty

~	Global: A Web of Surveillance – Unravelling a murky network of spyware exports to Indonesia

~	A clock in the rocks: what cosmic rays tell us about Earth’s changing surface and climate

~	Aggressive? Homophobic? Stoic? Here’s what thousands of Australian men told us about modern masculinity

~	Australia: Rights Vetting Crucial for Defence Cooperation

~	Do we really need to burp babies? Here’s what the research says

~	You’ve been ‘volun-told’ to coach junior sport – here’s how to best handle the parents involved