More than 500,000 people worked to contain Chernobyl's fallout

The Chernobyl disaster released more radioactive material than the Hiroshima bomb

A reactor explosion during a safety test resulted in a series of evacuations and resettlements that displaced over 300,000 people and left areas uninhabitable for up to 20,000 years. The Soviet government initially tried to hide the disaster, but rising radiation levels were identified by detectors in Sweden.

About 1,200 'grandmothers' returned to their homes after the Chernobyl disaster

After the evacuation of the Exclusion Zone, about 1,200 mostly elderly women illegally went back to their ancestral villages and became known as the "babushkas of Chernobyl." Some have described the trauma of permanent relocation as less tolerable than potential radiation risks.

The Chernobyl exclusion zone remains a region restricted to public access

It now spans beyond the initial 30-kilometer radius around the nuclear plant to include surrounding areas found to have significant radioactive contamination. Aside from a handful of elderly self-settlers, permanent residency is banned, and access remains tightly controlled due to lingering radioactive contamination.

Explore illustrative depictions of Chernobyl in comic books

Pieces related to the location since the nuclear disaster have told stories about radioactive vampires and monsters, accounts of bureaucratic corruption and creed, and visual retellings of experiences those in the region lived through before and after the event.

Chernobyl's remaining reactors kept running for 14 years after the explosion

Due to energy shortages in Ukraine, Chernobyl's other undamaged reactors continued operating for years. Units 1 and 2 operated until 1996 and 1991, respectively, while Reactor 3 remained online until December 15, 2000, when Ukraine finally shut down the plant.

The containment apparatus at Chernobyl is the world's largest movable metal structure

Completed in 2016, the "New Safe Confinement" is a €1.5B megastructure—the largest movable structure ever built. It was assembled next to the damaged reactor, then rolled into place along a special track to seal the site for at least 100 years.

Dubbed 'stalkers,' some Ukrainian youth illegally explore Chernobyl's exclusion zone

A subculture of thrill-seekers, driven by a desire for rebellion and adventure, is representative of dark tourism in the region. Some stalkers sneak past militia posts to venture into abandoned ruins, risking radiation exposure while scavenging for ruins of the past.

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.

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.

The Manhattan Project employed hundreds of thousands of workers across the US

Between 1942 and 1945, the Manhattan Project relied on a vast workforce spread across secret sites. They performed roles ranging from scientific research to manual labor, motivated by patriotism, opportunity, secrecy, and wartime necessity.

Radioactive waste solutions include glass smelting and dumping into graphite blocks

Since radioactive materials can take seconds to millions of years to decay, their disposal or storage requires creative solutions. Besides turning liquid waste into glass or storing medical waste in lead-lined rooms, spent nuclear rods are stored in deep-water pools.

Explore the decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

This virtual tour explores the nuclear disaster site, which resulted from a magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and the various processes underway to remove debris, fuel, and contaminated water.

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

Explore how close you live to some of the most contaminated places in the US

Known as Superfund sites, these toxic locations undergo long-term cleanup to remove hazardous waste, protect health, and restore land for safe reuse. As of 2025, the EPA lists around 1,300 active Superfund sites on its National Priorities List, with more than 450 cleaned and removed since 1980.

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.

The Chernobyl virus earned its name for activating on the meltdown's anniversary

Affecting Windows 95 and 98 computers, it filled gaps in the code of any program opened after infecting a computer, earning it the nickname "Spacefiller." On April 26, 1999, the virus overwrote part of the software responsible for booting up a computer, rendering it unusable.

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.

View how cleanup crews respond to oil spills to minimize lasting damage

Oil floating on the surface can be pushed into booms with water hoses to contain the spill before being suctioned by vacuums, set on fire, or picked up by absorbent materials. In some environments, chemical cleaners can be used to disperse oil into smaller droplets that can dilute in the water, evaporate in the sunlight, or be consumed by oil-eating microbes.

Civilian 'little ships' saved Dunkirk: over 700 civilian boats joined the evacuation

Between May  26 and June 4, 1940, Operation Dynamo evacuated roughly 338,000 Allied soldiers from Dunkirk, France. Crucially, over 700 civilian “little ships”—yachts, fishing boats, pleasure craft—ferried troops from the shallow beaches to larger vessels, embodying a national rescue effort and preserving the core of Britain’s army for the war ahead.

How search and rescue teams remove survivors from rubble

At any time, large-scale seismic activity can devastate entire regions, often with little warning. Emergency responders, then, are perpetually on call. This is particularly critical in areas with poor infrastructure.

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.

Who cleans the London Underground at night?

The London Underground, also known as the Tube, services millions of people every day. After the transit system closes each evening, a crew of workers known as “fluffers” gather to clean the underground tunnels. This article sheds light on these unnoticed cleaners, covering the difficulties of their jobs and the bizarre things they’ve encountered, from ghosts to nesting pigeons.

The East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment explained

A train transporting a number of potentially dangerous chemicals derailed near the Ohio–Pennsylvania border in early February 2023. The extent of the leak has caused a number of environmental concerns and required a controlled burn to clear most...

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

Evidence suggests some of the Challenger's crew may have been alive after the explosion

Recovery of the intact crew cabin and later analysis of flight data led investigators to conclude the astronauts likely survived the initial breakup and remained alive during the roughly two-minute descent before the cabin struck the ocean.

A database of people who saved Jewish lives during the Nazi regime

Searchable by name and location, this database includes articles and photographs of people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. In 1963, Yad Vashem launched a worldwide project to pay tribute to these "Righteous Among the Nations." According to this database, more than 16,000 people, ranging in profession from farmers to governesses, worked to preserve the lives of Jews in Nazi-occupied areas.

Roughly 60,000 people serve 11 UN peacekeeping missions

One of the UN’s primary roles is peacekeeping—deploying personnel to conflict zones to maintain stability and protect civilians. The Better World Campaign’s page on UN peacekeeping offers a comprehensive overview of these missions, highlighting their global reach and the involvement of over 2 million personnel from 125 countries across 71 operations.

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

Russia's private military force, explained

Not all participants in the Russian/Ukraine war are enlisted or drafted soldiers. Some, like the Wagner Group, are private mercenaries. But their reach extends past Russia and Ukraine's borders. This eight-minute video explores the activities of this shadowy company and how they aid Vladimir Putin in his military endeavors.

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

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

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.

Watch the cumbersome, but necessary, precautions healthcare workers must take to care for and protect themselves while caring for Ebola patients.

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.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

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

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.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

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.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

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

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.