Three FRIB researchers wrote an article for The Conversation (“How a disgruntled scientist looking to prove his food wasn’t fresh discovered radioactive tracers and won a Nobel Prize 80 years ago”) that examines how George De Hevesy, the 1943 Nobel Laureate in chemistry, discovered radioactive tracers.
Artemis Spyrou, professor of physics at FRIB and in the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of Physics and Astronomy; Sean Liddick, associate professor of chemistry at FRIB and in the MSU Department of Chemistry, and FRIB associate director for experimental science; and Katharina Domnanich, assistant professor of chemistry at FRIB and in the MSU Department of Chemistry, explain how De Hevesy’s early research in the field revolutionized the way modern scientists use radioactive material, and how it has led to scientific and medical advances. Many fields now routinely use radioactive tracers, from medicine to materials science and biology.
Radionuclides are important tools for tracing biological, chemical, and physical processes. FRIB has the potential to supply unique radioisotopes that are otherwise difficult to produce. Learn more.