Howtown and SciShow explain how nuclear fallout helps fight crime

Today's evergreen educational entry features two videos about a common theme, how nuclear fallout helps fight crime. I begin with Howtown's The only good nuclear accident.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union (with contributions from the UK and France) conducted a series of above-ground nuclear tests that led to an increase in the radioactive carbon-14 concentration in the atmosphere. This global surge, known as the "bomb pulse" or the "bomb spike", is one of the most distinctive chemical signatures of the Cold War. The radiocarbon spread worldwide, embedding into plants, animals, and humans. Scientists later discovered that this bomb-pulse radiocarbon spike could be used as a precise dating tool. Bomb-pulse dating allows researchers to determine whether biological material formed before or after nuclear testing. This method has been applied to forensic science, medical research, and environmental monitoring. It has been used to identify forgeries in artwork, measure human cell turnover, and estimate the lifespan of Greenland sharks. One of the most important applications has been in tracking the illegal ivory trade. Elephant tusks absorb atmospheric carbon while the animal is alive. By analyzing the carbon-14 content of ivory artifacts or raw ivory, investigators can determine whether the material comes from a legally antique source or from a recently killed elephant. This intersection of nuclear history, atmospheric science, and conservation biology demonstrates how Cold War nuclear fallout became a forensic tool for fighting elephant poaching and wildlife trafficking. More broadly, it demonstrates the creativity and resourcefulness of scientific researchers, who find ingenious uses for datasets of unlikely origin.

SciShow has more in Nuclear Bombs Made Art Forgery Way Harder.

Peggy Guggenheim purchased a painting she believed to be by the famous artist Fernand Leger. Almost immediately, there were questions about its authenticity. But it took 40 years and an unlikely group of art detectives to solve the mystery.

Hosted by: Madelyn Leembruggen (she/her)

I discuss the effects of nuclear testing in my plate tectonics lecture in geology along with magnetic reversals, although in that case, it's about monitoring underground tests with seismometers instead of carbon-14 from atmospheric tests. Still, these stories would be useful in my environmental science classes as well. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Stay tuned for another evergreen educational entry tomorrow.