Mystery of radioactivity of Germany's wild boars
Radioactive wild boars have been roaming the forests of Germany for decades. Scientists believed their radioactivity was due to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. However, the animals' radioactivity has long mystified scientists because while levels of radioactive caesium in other animals has decreased over the years, radioactivity in wild boars has persisted at high levels. Scientists have dubbed this mystery the "wild boar paradox". New research now attributes the contamination of Germany's wild boars to nuclear weapons tests from the mid-20th century. The Chernobyl reactor produced caesium-137, which has a much shorter life than the caesium-135 created by nuclear weapons. |