How radioactivity unlocked deep time...

[DGUtley]

How radioactivity unlocked deep time...


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When scientists discovered the energy embedded within atoms, it transformed how we think about the long-term future of humanity, writes the historian Thomas Moynihan.


We all know how nuclear physics went on to alter our world forever. The gram gifted to Curie helped further research on the atom that, ultimately, led to the development of nuclear weapons. What is less known, however, is that – decades before the bomb – radioactivity had already revolutionised our world in ways that were just as profound, if more subtle.


Eclipsed by the infamy of atomic warfare, this is the near-forgotten story of how radium forever transformed attitudes to time and where we may be within history – creating the first efflorescence of truly long-term thinking. Until that point, we knew the Earth was old, but hadn't fully embraced how many more millions – or even billions – of years could lie ahead for humanity and the planet.


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https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...cked-deep-time

[Cotton1]

In addition one of the earliest uses of radiation was to treat cancer