Marine sciences are not the only source of science here at Palmer Station; we have a mysterious building on campus referred to as the TERRALAB. I ventured up to that building today to talk with Dr. Bouvard Hosticka. He came down on the same cruise as me and will be leaving when I do. Dr. Hosticka is a researcher from the University of Virginia and works for the Comprehensive Test Band Treaty Organization, where he works with very complicated machines constantly looking for a clandestine nuclear explosion, or a nuclear test of a bomb we do not know about.
Nuclear bombs have very specific radioactive signatures, and there are collecting stations called RASA’s all over the world that collect dust with radioactive materials on them that can be studied, which will detect a nuclear explosion. Since Dr. Hosticka started working on the project in 1994, no clandestine nuclear explosions have occurred, but they always pick up material from known nuclear explosions. The main part of the machine is a single Germanium crystal that is very sensitive to radioactive isotopes and needs to be shielded from outside radioactivity by lead.
Interestingly though when the Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred in Japan in 2011, very little of the nuclear material released was collected at the Palmer Station RASA sight. This is because very little air (wind) is exchanged between the northern and southern hemisphere due to the way the trade winds collide near the equator.
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