Intellectually Curious

Neptunium Deep Dive: The First Transuranic Frontier


Listen Later

Take a deep dive into Neptunium—the first element beyond uranium. We trace its discovery—from Fermi’s neutron bombardment to Berkeley breakthroughs—unpack its unusual properties (reactivity, low melting point, allotropes), and connect the science to today’s world: from nuclear science fundamentals to long‑lived waste and the plutonium‑238 that powers space probes. A single‑element episode with history, chemistry, and a few surprising twists.


Note:  This podcast was AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes.  Please double-check any critical information.

Sponsored by Embersilk LLC

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Intellectually CuriousBy Mike Breault