It was great fun and slightly scary to learn about uranium cubes left behind by Nazi Germany's research programme into nuclear fission. Some of these cubes are being investigated in US labs right now and are still yielding information about the events that happened more than 80 years ago.
I combined this with other developments happening in nuclear forensics for a feature that is out now in C & I:
Nuclear legacy
Chemistry & Industry Volume 86, Issue 1, January 2022, Pages 30-33 DOI:10.1002/cind.861_11.x
access via:
Wiley Online Library (paywalled)
SCI (members only)
This is one of the 664 uranium cubes from the failed nuclear reactor that German scientists tried to build in Haigerloch during World War II.
Credit: John T. Consoli/University of Maryland
In the same issue, on the very next page, you'll also find my review of the book Great adaptations, by Morgan Phillips.
Wiley Online Library (paywalled)
I'm also starting a twitter thread with this year's C&I features here.
Fascinating! I didn't know about Heisenberg's uranium cubes until recently.
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