Access

News and Views

Nature 436, 467-468 (28 July 2005) | doi:10.1038/436467a; Published online 27 July 2005

Earth sciences:  Ghosts from within

William F. McDonough1

Top

The first detection of geoneutrinos from beneath our feet is a landmark result. It will allow better estimation of the abundances and distributions of radioactive elements in the Earth, and of the Earth's overall heat budget.

The decay of unstable isotopes of chemical elements within the Earth produces heat that contributes to its overall energy output — a fact recognized shortly after Henri Becquerel first discovered radioactivity in 1896. More than 100 years on, Araki et al.page 499 of this issue)1 report the first measurement of antineutrinos produced by radioactive beta--decay at the heart of the Earth.

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Earth sciences Ghosts from within

Nature News and Views (28 Jul 2005)

Particle physics Now you see them, now you don't

Nature News and Views (30 Jan 2003)