How a Little Bit of Dirt Can Reconstruct a Secret Nuclear Test

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have just discovered a fascinating new way to reconstruct past nuclear tests even decades after detonation. All they need is a pinch of dirt. It's a clever new method and the kind of thing that could make it easier to tell if rogue nations are telling the truth about their nuclear tests. This feat of nuclear forensics was spearheaded by Susan Hanson, a nuclear chemist at Los Alamos. Her team developed a way to piece together what were previously overlooked chemical fingerprints to reconstruct a detailed picture of past nuclear explosions—far beyond what scientists thought possible.

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