Radioactive glass from first nuclear explosion test site may hold clues to moon formation

Using fragments of radioactive glass picked up from the site of the first nuclear bomb explosion in the United States, scientists are trying to explain the mystery behind the formation of the moon and the properties of lunar rocks. The study by researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California - San Diego used materials from the Trinity test site in New Mexico to show that the explosion could be similar to a collision between proto-Earth and a Mars-sized object 4.5 billion years ago. Read more.

Tags: Radioisotopes Geology Astronomy zinc isotopes