I was reading through the BBC website for physics news and found the coolest thing! There is an experiment to recreate the conditions at the centre of the earth! Its as the European Synchrotron Radiation facility. They are using a diamond anvil cell to produce very high pressures by holding samples between the points of two diamonds. There are also lasers to heat the samples and Xrays are used as probes. Lasers and diamonds, a girls favourite things! They provide extremely detailed data and could lead to way to any number of discoveries, for example why the earths magnetic fields can flip.
Also the Fukushima nuclear plant has been opened to reporters and it was really interesting to see what was left after the accident and now they are trying to clean it up. the situation is improving all the time but it is easy to forget that the aftermath continues for people who work there and lived in the area. A large area around the plant is sealed off still and although there are plans for a cold shut down (back to normal pressure and a temperature below 90 degrees Celsius) by the end of the year it might not be completely decommissioned for a decade.
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