Nuclear weapons

In an echo of the Cold War, Russia's first newly manufactured Tupolev Tu-160M (NATO designation Blackjack) supersonic nuclear heavy bomber completed its maiden flight on January 12, reaching a height of 600 m (2,000 ft) during its 30-minute test.

The United States National Nuclear Security Administration has begun production of its latest air-dropped nuclear weapon variant. The B61-12 Life Extension Program is designed to improve the safety and security of the country's nuclear stockpile.

The Secretary of the US Air Force, Frank Kendall, has officially confirmed that five prototypes of the B-21 Raider strategic heavy bomber are under construction by Northrop Grumman at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.

A team of researchers is using state-of-the-art forensic techniques to solve the riddle of the origin of uranium cubes that were used as part of the Nazi effort to develop nuclear weapons during the Second World War.

A key component of the US nuclear deterrent has reached a major milestone as production of the first upgraded W88 Alt 370 nuclear warhead is completed. The warhead has received an improved arming mechanism, or “brain”, to extend its service life.

Scientists have discovered a strange new form of crystal that was forged in the first nuclear weapons test. Known as a "quasicrystal," the curious creation is made out of desert sand and copper wiring arranged in an extremely rare atomic structure.

In a recent test of two major US defense initiatives, an F-35A Lightning II has dropped a mock refurbished B61-12 nuclear bomb for the first time. The bomb was released from an internal bay while the stealth fighter was flying at supersonic speed.

Sandia National Laboratories has successfully conducted a full-scale, rocket-sled crash test of the new semi-tractor-trailer truck that will be used to transport nuclear weapons inside the United States.

July 16 marks 75 years since of the first detonation of an atomic bomb. Now famous as the Trinity Test, the giant explosion was the culmination of the ultra-secret Manhattan project and would within weeks lead to the end of the Second World War.

New research has shed light on how nuclear war could seriously alter the chemistry of Earth’s oceans, and in so doing damage the life that dwells within. The scientists used an advanced climate model to predict a range of nuclear scenarios.

Every year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists updates the status of its Doomsday Clock. The closer to midnight that the minute hand moves, the bigger the threat of catastrophe. And the 2020 clock is the most dire warning to date.

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.