"Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium" by Lucy Jane Santos; Pegasus Books (336, $27.99) Long before scientists split the atom, quacks and con artists were splitting the profits. Marie and Pierre ...

The element radium can be found in extremely tiny amounts in the Earth’s crust and oceans, and in its pure form it is a soft silvery metal. To an untrained eye, a small piece of radium may look like a ...

Hundreds of women and girls were exposed to a radioactive chemical at an Illinois factory in the 1920s. Years later, they helped change workplace safety standards. In the early 1900s, radium was all ...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. “What is radium and why is it dangerous?” – ...

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist holds a dead spike mussel, the same species of freshwater mussel studied by researchers at Penn State. Credit: Meagan Racey/USFWS Fracking’s Forever Problem: ...

Scientists have developed tiny nanocrystal particles made up of isotopes of the elements lanthanum, vanadium, and oxygen for use in treating cancer. (Nanowerk News) Scientists have developed tiny ...

Brazil nuts are known as “selenium bombs” and are consumed as a natural dietary supplement. However, they do not only contain this essential nutrient, but also traces of potentially problematic metals ...