Nuclear Power

A nuclear-powered car lined with lead and other materials to protect its passengers from radiation would weigh at least 50 tons—more than 25 times as heavy as the average vehicle.

Visions of Nuclear-Powered Cars Captivated Cold War America, but the Technology Never Really Worked

From the Ford Nucleon to the Studebaker-Packard Astral, these vehicles failed to progress past the prototype stage in the 1950s and 1960s

The bunker is located 14 feet below a field in Derbyshire.

You Can Own a Rare Nuclear Bunker Built in England in the 1950s

The underground hideout, which will go to auction this month, was designed to shelter three people for two weeks in the event of an attack

Teflon’s unique molecular structure made it useful in myriad applications, from nuclear weapons laboratories to your kitchen.

The Long, Strange History of Teflon, the Indestructible Product Nothing Seems to Stick to

Chemists accidentally discovered the material in 1938, and since then it has been used for everything from helping to create the first atomic bomb to keeping your eggs from sticking to your frying pan

The hideout boasted more than 1,000 bunk beds, a 400-seat cafeteria, individual auditoriums for both the Senate and the House of Representatives, vast water tanks, and a trash incinerator that could serve as a crematorium.

The Town That Kept Its Nuclear Bunker a Secret for Three Decades

The people of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, helped keep the Greenbrier resort's bunker—designed to hold the entirety of Congress—hidden from 1958 to 1992

A poster for Oppenheimer in Tokyo

'Oppenheimer' Opens in Japan Eight Months After Worldwide Release

The acclaimed biopic of the Manhattan Project's leader has been met with mixed reviews by Japanese audiences

The document was signed by 24 contributors to the Manhattan Project, including J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Manhattan Project Report Signed by J. Robert Oppenheimer Sells at Auction

The document was "likely the very first publicly available report on the creation of the bomb," according to RR Auction

Frank Oppenheimer

How the Atomic Bomb Set Brothers Robert and Frank Oppenheimer on Diverging Paths

For one of them, the story ended with a mission to bring science to the public

The 2023 Doomsday Clock on display before a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists event on January 24, 2023. The Bulletin has been setting the clock since 1947 based on analysis of threats facing humans from technologies people have made. 

Doomsday Clock Stays at 90 Seconds to Midnight Amid Climate Change, War and A.I.

For the second year in a row, the clock is the nearest it has ever been to signaling our total annihilation

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Oppenheimer Has a Long History On Screen, Including the Time the Nuclear Physicist Played Himself

Now with 13 Academy Award nominations to its credit, the blockbuster film comes after nearly eight decades of mythologizing the father of the atomic bomb

Our ten most-read stories of the year featured the author of Anne of Green Gables, tiny penguins, Queen Charlotte and more.

Our Top Ten Stories of 2023

From the world's oldest dog to the real history behind "Oppenheimer," these were the magazine's most-read articles of the year

A wild boar in Bavaria, Germany. Levels of radioactive contamination in the animals have not declined significantly since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

Why Germany's Wild Boars Are Radioactive

Fallout from nuclear tests conducted in the mid-20th century may contribute to the high levels of radiation seen in the animals today, a new study finds

Morris “Moe” Berg in 1933. Dubbed the “brainiest man in baseball” due to his knack for languages and quick wit, the catcher joined the OSS in 1943.

The Baseball Player-Turned-Spy Who Went Undercover to Assassinate the Nazis' Top Nuclear Scientist

During World War II, the OSS sent Moe Berg to Europe, where he gathered intel on Germany's efforts to build an atomic bomb

Shells of turtles and tortoises can accumulate uranium isotopes.

Turtle Shells Keep a Record of Humans' Nuclear History

Scientists can measure uranium isotopes in tortoise and turtle shells to understand the environmental impact of past nuclear events, a new study reports

The tanks used for storing treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan are almost at capacity.

Japan Begins Release of Treated Nuclear Wastewater Into the Pacific Ocean

Twelve years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the move is a polarizing step toward decommissioning the defunct power plant

Engineers work outside the structure where the array of lasers at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory are focused.

Scientists Repeat Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough in a Step Toward More Clean Energy

Still, nuclear fusion power plants are likely decades away and may come too late to play a role in addressing climate change

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's newest film

The Real History Behind Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'

The "father of the atomic bomb" has long been misunderstood. Will the new film finally get J. Robert Oppenheimer right?

GUN SITE Gun Site was constructed on the former Anchor Ranch, a 320-acre property to the west of the main research site. The area had a flat, empty space where scientists studied projectiles and ballistics. Its main drawback was its proximity to a road, but efforts to blockade traffic during tests were largely successful.

An Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Los Alamos Lab Where J. Robert Oppenheimer Created the Atomic Bomb

In never-before-seen photographs, explore the secret U.S. facility and home to the Manhattan Project scientists who developed the first nuclear weapon

Two dogs walk around the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, in 2022, near the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Why Scientists Are Studying the Stray Dogs Living at Chernobyl

A new study is a first step toward understanding how radiation exposure might affect DNA

Artist's concept of a spacecraft that will test a nuclear thermal rocket engine.

Nuclear-Powered Rockets Might One Day Carry Astronauts to Mars

NASA and DARPA are building a nuclear thermal rocket engine that could slash the time it would take to reach the Red Planet

The door of the 1,900-square-foot Nantucket fallout shelter

Inside JFK's Secret Doomsday Bunker

The president's Nantucket nuclear fallout shelter could become a National Historic Landmark—but efforts to preserve its history have stalled

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