A 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck off the coast of Sardinia, carrying over 30 metric tons of lead ingots, has provided invaluable material for 21st-century scientific experiments. The ancient lead, having stabilized over millennia, is now used to shield sensitive particle physics experiments. One is the search for neutrinoless double beta decay, a process that could help explain the dominance of matter in the universe.
Modern Science Needs Ancient Roman Lead—And That’s a Problem
Related Posts
Engineering a Stealth Aircraft
Equipped with precision-guided weapons like GPS and laser-guided missiles, the F-117 operated as a subsonic bomber capable of…
Researchers Observe Quantum Droplet Behavior in Ultracold Gases, Revealing Capillary Instability
At a Glance A team of researchers from the National Institute of Optics, the University of Florence, and…
Scientists develop surfaces that trick bacteria, thwarting deadly biofilms
A breakthrough in material science reveals how microscopic surface textures can trick bacteria into self-lubricating, preventing the formation of dangerous biofilms on medical plastics.
Our laser technique can tell apart elephant and mammoth ivory – here’s how it may disrupt the ivory trade
Johann Mader/Shutterstock Rebecca Shepherd, University of Bristol In recent years, the global trade in elephant ivory has faced…