Searching for clues on extreme climate change

Nearly 13,000 years ago, pines in southern France experienced a cold snap, which scientists have now reconstructed

The remains of a buried pine forest at the foot of Mont Saint Genis in Southern France yield insightful information on a drastic climate change event. The pine tree stand initiated around 12,900 years ago during the relatively warm "Allerød" period, and continued growing into the cold snap of the "Younger Dryas" period. Researchers at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, together with international colleagues, have for the first time combined classic tree-ring width measurements with chemical (stable isotope) analyses of carbon and oxygen in tree-rings to reconstruct climate variables. Thus, they were able to calculate local soil water composition (precipitation) and relative humidity at annual time resolution. This resulted in novel insights into the hydrological variability and atmospheric circulation changes during an abrupt climate change event. Read more.

Corn in the bones: The science behind North Korea war remains

When war remains arrive at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to be reunited with waiting families, there’s always a question: How do they know for sure who it is? DPAA laboratory director John Byrd and forensic anthropologist Jennie Jin, who leads the Korea War team, walked reporters through the science behind how they will identify 55 boxes of remains returned by North Korea this summer. Read more.

Origin of radioactive space material finally identified

Two small stars that collided thousands of years ago are at least partly responsible for a strange signature astronomers are seeking to understand.

Over 2,500 years ago, two small stars collided. The collision produced an outburst called a red nova, which then slowly cooled, producing molecular gas and dust. By the time the light from the nova reached Earth in 1670, astronomers were already keenly observing heavens with telescopes. They noted the event and kept records as the outburst faded over nearly two years. Recently, astronomers took a closer look at the remnant and saw a something never seen in space before — an object producing radioactive elements. Read more.

Tumour treatment isotope to be made at Bruce-8

Bruce Power is set to place medical-grade cobalt into unit 8 of its nuclear power plant in Ontario, meaning all four Bruce B units will now produce high specific activity (HSA) cobalt, which is used to treat brain tumours worldwide.

HSA cobalt is used as an alternative to traditional brain surgery and radiation therapy for the treatment of complex brain conditions through a specialised, non-invasive knife, which uses gamma radiation to focus 200 microscopic beams of radiation on a tumour or other target. It minimises damage to healthy tissue and lowers side-effects compared to traditional therapy in some cases. Read more.

Modular fluidic system developed to supply radioisotope used in targeted alpha therapy

Astatine-211 shows promise for treating certain cancers, but it's hard to get enough to study. Researchers developed a better way by creating an automated process. The team translated a complex manual chemical process for isolating astatine-211 into three modules that work quickly and efficiently to produce a high-quality product. Currently, the system is being evaluated for its performance and consistency. Read more.

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