Whenmushroom clouds blow up in the sky during Cold War - epoch atomic bombs examination , they also create an unexpected boon for science . The nuclear explosions causeda monolithic uptick in Carbon-14 that eventually settled in all livingtissue — everything fromtree ringstoelephant tusksto human brain cells .
As such , this spike in Carbon-14 has helped scientists date trees , bump ivorypoachers , and upend a ten - old dogma that Modern brain jail cell can not beregenerated in the human mind .
In fact , Kirsty Spalding and Jonas Frisén , the pioneer brainpower cadre researchersprofiled byPBS ’s NOVA , conceive Carbon-14 dating has swell possible forshedding light on how quickly cellphone are replenish in the trunk .
The catch isthat the Carbon-14 released before the aboveground nuclear testing banning in1963 is lento fading to background knowledge horizontal surface . There ’s plenty of enquiry yet to bedone — but they only have until 2050 .
AsCarrie Arnold explains for NOVA , this is why Carbon-14 or so - called bomb pulsedating works :
Most aboveground nuclear bombtesting happen between 1955 and 1963 , and those detonation released untoldnumbers of neutrons into the air . These thrash into N atoms , stimulate their cell nucleus to eject a proton . What was once a seven - proton nitrogenbecame a six - proton carbon copy . But unlike most carbon atom , which have sixprotons six and neutron , this radioactive carbon , known as 14C , retained nitrogen ’s two extra neutrons , a divergence in atomic mass that issmall , but measurable . Normally , only a midget fraction of the universe ’s carbon is 14C , solittle that scientists measure it in parts per trillion . The dud pulse rate doubledthis amount . While 14C concentrations are still low evenafter the bomb calorimeter pulse , the difference is obvious to scientist who know whatthey’re looking for .
The use of Carbon-14 dating in biology wasoriginally forensic . Because skin and hair are continually replenished in a liveperson , their age — as determined by Carbon-14 dating — is also a placeholder forwhen a person died . Spalding and Frisén used Carbon-14 to helpidentify victim of the Indian Ocean tsunami , for example , but they were eventually convince the technique could be used to date populations of cells as well aswhole body . By looking at the age of cells , they could also forecast out howquickly those cells replenished .
When they set out looking atcertain tissue , Spalding and Frisén first found that fat prison cell were replacedmore quickly in the obese than the healthy . When they release their aid tothe brain , they found that some neurons were untested than theindividuals they came from , thus showing that the brain can , in fact , regenerate , a discovery indirectly made possible due to the atmospherical effects of atomic bombs .
For more of the background on the neuroscience , readArnold ’s piecefor NOVA .
Photo good manners ofPierre J / Flickr .
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