the.com/plutonium
the element that powers both apocalypse and the spacecraft leaving our solar system forever.
means A dense, radioactive metallic element (atomic number 94) used in nuclear weapons and as fuel for reactors and deep-space power sources.
from Named after the dwarf planet Pluto, following the pattern of its neighbors uranium (Uranus) and neptunium (Neptune) on the periodic table. Pluto in turn carries the name of the Roman god of the underworld — a fittingly grim namesake for an element that fuels both bombs and the realm of the dead. The element was first synthesized in the early 1940s, and the name surfaced in that wartime moment of discovery.
- warm to touch
- radioactive decay keeps it perpetually warmer than its surroundings
- named for
- Pluto, the demoted dwarf planet of the underworld
- six forms
- it shape-shifts through six solid crystal structures
- voyager fuel
- runs probes now drifting in interstellar space
- barely natural
- almost all of it is human-made in reactors
trinity test — first nuclear weapon detonation using plutonium-239, july 16 1945, new mexico
nagasaki bombing — fat man bomb dropped on nagasaki, august 9 1945, killing ~70,000 people
plutonium-238 rtg — powers nasa curiosity rover, perseverance rover, and voyager probes for decades in space