Science
Impossible machines, unsettling discoveries and phenomena that are hard to imagine.
The Lake Never Overflowed. By Morning, Entire Villages Were Dead.
The houses were still standing. The roads were untouched. But almost nothing moved in the valley below Lake Nyos.
The Screen Showed a Minor Error. The Patient Said He Was Burning.
“Malfunction 54” looked routine, so the operator resumed treatment. Three weeks later, the same message returned.
The Screwdriver Slipped. The Room Filled with Blue Light.
Seven men watched Louis Slotin close two hemispheres around a plutonium core. When his hand slipped, he understood before anyone else.
They Glowed in the Dark. Then Their Bones Began to Fail.
Young women painted luminous watch dials with radium. They were repeatedly told it was safe. Their bodies proved otherwise.
In the Scrap Yard, a Powder Glowed Beautiful Blue. No One Knew What It Was Doing to Their Bodies.
An abandoned radiotherapy machine was broken open in a Goiânia neighbourhood. The caesium passed from hand to hand before anyone understood why people were falling ill.