Researchers say they've found the "obvious candidate" for the source of a mysterious radiation cloud that hovered over much of Europe last month before dispersing, NPR reports. More than 40 countries detected a radioactive isotope called ruthenium-106 in the atmosphere. Ruthenium is not found in nature, and Danish researcher Sven Poul Nielsen says the detection of it last month was "strange" because it's the first time it has ever been found without being accompanied by other types of radiation.
Typically if ruthenium is in the atmosphere, something very bad has happened. For example, its detection was one of the first signs of the infamous 1986 meltdown at Chernobyl. But this time no country has announced an accident involving ruthenium-106.
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