Uranium's ability to split easily makes it the most common catalyst for nuclear power

Water acts as a coolant and a moderator of nuclear reactions in reactors

Nuclear reactions within a containment structure boil water into steam, which drives a turbine that generates electricity. This water is then recirculated via pumps back into the containment structure to repeat the process, with reaction rates lowered by the insertion of control rods that absorb neutrons, which trigger reactions.

Over a lifetime, the average American's nuclear power usage creates a hockey puck of nuclear waste

Spent nuclear fuel remains hot and highly radioactive for long periods, requiring submersion in cooling pools before being stored in dry casks and deep underground repositories. The potential recycling of nuclear waste is impeded by security concerns and dangerous reprocessing methods, particularly when obtaining fresh uranium is often easier.

See where the 94 nuclear reactors in the continental US are located

In 2023, these reactors—located in 53 plants across 28 states—prevented 437 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. A single fingertip-sized uranium pellet generates as much electricity as a ton of coal, enough for one household's annual electricity.

A breakdown of nuclear fusion and what is impeding this near-limitless clean-energy resource

While today's nuclear reactors rely on fission, which releases energy by splitting heavy atoms, nuclear fusion releases energy by combining atoms together to form more massive ones. Fusion involves overcoming repulsive forces between the centers, or nuclei, of atoms, and, as of 2026, overcoming this repulsion takes more energy than is produced.

Where radon comes from and why it may be the most dangerous source of radioactivity

Released from underground bedrock before passing through soil, this radioactive gas is produced from the decay of uranium, thorium, and radium and accounts for about half of all human exposure to radiation. It is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers and can build up in enclosed spaces such as buildings without proper ventilation to dilute the gas.

Helium formation, from radioactive decay inside Earth to nuclear fusion within stellar cores

Over the course of billions of years, uranium and thorium undergo alpha decay, producing helium nuclei—two protons and two neutrons—which become helium atoms after gaining two electrons. This helium becomes trapped in underground reservoirs along with other gases and can be recovered during natural gas extraction.

Radioactive elements can generate electricity, sterilize products, and date artifacts

Since their discovery in the 1890s, these substances have been incorporated throughout our daily lives, from treating food packaging and improving microbial safety to their presence in smoke detectors and gauges for ice cream aeration.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

The 'Elephant's Foot' in Chernobyl is part of the largest documented mass of corium

The nuclear disaster produced around 200 tons of nuclear fuel that mixed with the surrounding melted reactor core materials. As of 2025, corium has been naturally formed four other times in history: once during the Three Mile Island accident and three times at the Fukushima Daiichi plant disaster.

View the periodic table of radioactive elements, and a list of each's most stable isotopes

Technetium is the lightest artificial radioactive element, which is produced primarily as a byproduct of nuclear fission. Several unstable isotopes are commercially available to medical professionals and scientists, despite their radioactivity risks.

Small modular reactors can provide nuclear power with reduced risks and logistics

Their factory-built design allows them to be quickly installed underground, reducing their exposure to future extreme weather. They can provide power to small towns and major cities with much smaller start-up costs and reduced siting requirements.

Turning nuclear waste into cancer medications

This video explores Terrapower, a company transforming nuclear waste into lifesaving cancer treatments. This is accomplished through the production and use of Actinium 225, a rare isotope derived from thorium, which is used in targeted alpha therapy to treat cancer.

Clean energy technologies are more mineral-intensive than burning fossil fuels

Solar panels use silver due to its high conductivity, hydropower plants use chromium in their steel alloys, and geothermal plants need titanium to withstand abundant heat and pressure. Lithium—used in energy storage—is expected to see over 500% increased demand from 2020 to 2025.

Learn more about the three sites that powered the Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project relied on three main sites: Oak Ridge, which enriched uranium; Hanford, which produced plutonium in large reactors; and Los Alamos, which designed and assembled the bombs—work that culminated in the Trinity nuclear test in 1945.

Why everyone is racing to get rare earth minerals

Rare earth minerals are crucial for high-tech electronics and transitioning to new energy sources. China currently dominates rare earth processing capacity, but the US is seeking to increase its mineral production by using its geopolitical influence to strike international mineral agreements with nations like Ukraine.

More than 97% of the world's particle accelerators are used for commercial purposes

Only a few hundred of the over 30,000 particle accelerators worldwide are used for research. Most are involved in medical imaging and treatment, food sterilization, semiconductor processing, cargo screening, and radioisotope production. They're also used to modify the properties of polymers.

Experiments suggest nuking a metal-rich asteroid may strengthen it

Scientists exposed meteorite samples to proton irradiation at CERN to mimic the effects of a nuclear detonation. The material exhibited greater resistance to breaking after the exposure, suggesting nuclear weapons may better serve to deflect asteroids, not break them.

View summaries of the most common types of radioactive decay and their associated particles

The alpha particle has the strongest ability to ionize other atoms it strikes, but it also does not travel very far before colliding with something and being absorbed. Gamma particles—high-energy photons—do not interact with matter as easily and therefore possess the greatest penetrating power, though this also makes their ionizing potential the smallest.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

The discovery of the neutron paved the way for nuclear weapons

In 1932, James Chadwick discovered the subatomic particle when trying to explain the radiation emitted by beryllium after it was bombarded with alpha particles. The radiation’s ability to eject protons from a target suggested a chargeless particle with slightly more mass than a proton.

Volcanic activity can lead to the formation of fertile soils

Ejected rock can introduce key minerals found in fertilizers, including iron, magnesium, and potassium, to improve soil quality. Ash and basalt crystals can be easily absorbed into soils, infusing them with sulfur, oxygen, chlorine, phosphorus, calcium, and other critical elements.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

The world derives more of its energy from oil than from any other resource

Coal and gas are second and third, respectively, in terms of where the bulk of the world’s energy consumption stems from. These interactive charts can help you visualize where the world sources the most of its energy.

Solar power is converting the sun's energy into thermal or electrical energy

Solar energy is the most abundant renewable energy resource. It can be captured in photovoltaic cells to generate electricity, solar heating and cooling technologies for temperature control, and concentrated solar power to drive steam turbines.

Isodope is the world's first nuclear energy influencer

Isabelle Boemeke, a Brazilian fashion model and social media personality, began promoting the benefits of nuclear electricity in 2015. She now debunks common objections to it through her TikTok persona Isodope—which has more than 34,000 followers.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

Ukraine once had the third-largest nuclear arsenal—and gave them all up by 1996

After the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left with over 1,700 nuclear warheads positioned throughout its territory. A massive global effort ensued, led by the United States, to return these and other nuclear weapons in former Soviet allied states to Russia.

Explaining the engineering challenges of extracting metal-rich nodules from the seafloor

Proposed solutions for collecting these potato-shaped rocks involve lifting a slurry composed of them, organic debris, and water through several kilometers of flexible tubing to a ship on the surface, a process that is more difficult than pumping crude oil. One method would use compressed air, but this method is only 15% energy-efficient.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Poison ivy's rash-causing compound is found in the plant's roots, stem, and leaves—so coming into contact with any part of the plant can lead to rashes for the 85% of people who are allergic to it.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.