Nuclear weapons

During and after nuclear bomb tests, levels of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 spiked in the atmosphere and in our bodies. Now, researchers have used that to carbon date our immune cells, helping solve a mystery about how our immune systems age.

​​Tiny glassy particles that litter the beaches near Hiroshima in Japan are likely the resolidified remains of the city destroyed by a US atomic bomb on the morning of August 6, 1945, according to the results of a newly published study.

A new study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Guangzhou indicates that radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear weapons tests in the mid-20th century has been found in the muscle tissues of crustaceans in the deepest parts of the ocean.

Relics of the Cold War that were once top secret are now public exhibits. Case in point is the Titan Missile Museum that was once home to a globe-spanning suborbital missile topped with a nine-megaton nuclear warhead and is now a museum dedicated to the dark days of mutually assured destruction.

The US Missile Defence Agency (MDA), Boeing, and Raytheon have pulled off an historic first as a dummy ICBM warhead was intercepted in space over the Pacific ocean by not one, but two interceptor missiles.

Another veteran of the Cold War has bowed out after the French Air Force retired its last operational Mirage 2000N supersonic nuclear bomber. In a military ceremony, General Olivier Taprest, Major General of the Air Force marked the official end of service for the aircraft after over 30 years.

MIT researchers are working on a system similar to computer encryption that allows arms inspectors to keep track of nuclear warheads without their owners worrying about giving away vital military secrets.

A consortium of American and British science institutions is working on a way to use antineutrinos to remotely monitor nuclear reactors. The 3,500-ton WATCHMAN detector will be installed in a mine on the northeast coast of England as part of international nuclear weapon non-proliferation efforts.

A study released by Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, says that the world's nuclear weapons may be more vulnerable to cyber attacks than previously thought and could result in an accidental missile launch.

The US government has just released 62 newly declassified videos showing footage of atmospheric nuclear tests from the first half of the 20th century. The videos, never before seen by the general public, have been uploaded to YouTube.

Lockheed Martin may have lost out on designing America's next-generation ICBM, but the company has been selected to help replace the vintage AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile. The US$900 million contract is developing the technology for the nuclear-capable Long Range Stand Off missile.

Boeing and Northrop Grumman have stolen a march on rival Lockheed Martin, announcing today in separate releases that they'd won US Air Force contracts to develop preliminary designs for the next generation of American ICBMs.