{"id":718770,"date":"2026-07-30T08:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/718770\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T08:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:55:16","slug":"science-news-strange-object-never-seen-before-on-earth-discovered-at-site-of-hiroshima-atom-bomb-blast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/718770\/","title":{"rendered":"Science news: Strange object never seen before on Earth discovered at site of Hiroshima atom bomb blast"},"content":{"rendered":"

A strange new object, never seen before on Earth, has been discovered at the site of the Hiroshima atom bomb blast.<\/p>\n

The previously-unknown metal was found at the place where the “Little Boy” bomb hit, killing more than 50,000 people.<\/p>\n

Scientists analysed tiny grains within the debris, finding the alloy inside a glassy particle known as “hiroshimaite”, recovered from beach sands in Hiroshima Bay.<\/p>\n

The alloy contains iron, chromium, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, silicon and aluminium.<\/p>\n

Some of the material resembles stainless steel, but its atoms arranged in a structure never before documented.<\/p>\n

Researchers from the University of Florence believe the metal was vapourised by the fireball, then rapidly condensed, locking its atoms in an unnaturally occurring pattern.<\/p>\n

The discovery, published in journal Science Advances, suggests that more novel post-nuclear materials could possibly be found.<\/p>\n

Researchers analysed 34 tiny glassy particles collected from beaches in Hiroshima Bay.<\/p>\n

\"Hiroshimaite,<\/p>\n

An image of hiroshimaite, seen through an electron microscope<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

SCIENCE ADVANCES \/ BINDI ET AL<\/p>\n

These then used high-powered electron microscopes, conducted chemical analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction for any unusual material.<\/p>\n

Thousands of known materials were compared to the alloy – confirming to the Florentine team they found something truly novel.<\/p>\n

“We report the discovery of a previously unknown multicomponent alloy… recovered from beach sands of Hiroshima Bay, formed during the August 6, 1945 atomic airburst,” researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

“The alloy likely formed by condensation from a mixed metallic vapor followed by ultrafast quenching in the expanding fireball.”<\/p>\n

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES – READ MORE:<\/p>\n

\"Component<\/p>\n

Analysis of the alloy showed elements in similar quantities to stainless steel<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

SCIENCE ADVANCES \/ BINDI ET AL<\/p>\n

The team, led by geologist Professor Luca Bindi, previously discovered a post-nuclear crystal<\/a> which experts said should not be able to exist on our planet.<\/p>\n

A gem, described as a “previously unknown calcium copper silicate type-I clathrate” was found at the site of the 1945 Trinity nuclear test in Alamagordo, New Mexico.<\/p>\n

“Extreme, transient conditions produced by nuclear detonations can generate solid-state phases inaccessible to conventional synthesis,” the researchers said.<\/p>\n

Both findings show evidence that nuclear explosions can create new materials which would otherwise be impossible to create.<\/p>\n

\"mushroom<\/p>\n

PICTURED: The mushroom clouds above Hiroshima and Nagasaki<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“This study demonstrates that anthropogenic (man-made) extreme conditions can lead to the formation of previously unknown materials,” researchers said.<\/p>\n

Prof Bindi has conducted extensive research into “quasicrystals” – finding the first naturally occurring example of one in 2009.<\/p>\n

Crystals usually require stable conditions and lengthy periods to form neat, symmetrical patterns.<\/p>\n

But quasicrystals lack translational symmetry and instead form in bizarre, unusual arrangements, appearing to be frozen in time after extreme conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A strange new object, never seen before on Earth, has been discovered at the site of the Hiroshima…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-718770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-gb","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}