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Health & Science14h 23m ago
Scientists analyzed a lump of ferromanganese rock from the Pacific Ocean seafloor, finding hundreds of atoms of plutonium radioisotopes (Pu-244) that provide clues about an ancient cosmic event.
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Pacific Ocean seafloor
Who
scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf institution in Germany and Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), including Dr. Michael Hotchkis and Dominic Koll
What
Scientists analyzed a lump of ferromanganese rock from the Pacific Ocean seafloor, finding hundreds of atoms of plutonium radioisotopes (Pu-244) that provide clues about an ancient cosmic event.
When
Thu, 18 Jun 2026 20:51:00 GMT · 14h 23m ago
Where
Pacific Ocean seafloor ·
Why
The plutonium isotopes originated from an energetic kilonova, a collision of two neutron stars more than a hundred million years ago, which sent long-lived elements through space.
The Frontline Impact
How this affects you
This chemical analysis of cosmic debris advances the dating of ancient cosmic events and understanding of r-process nucleosynthesis, providing empirical data for astronomical observations of neutron star mergers.
Story chain
1 event in this threadNo related history yet - this is the origin event.