HMNS Beyond Bones Podcast · Houston Museum of Natural Science

Radioactive Fossils

·39 min·2 clips

Johnny summarizes the Ancient Aliens idea that aliens nuked dinosaurs to clear Earth for humans.

Can fossils be radioactive? Johnny Hemberger brings the recurring question to Colin Diggins, who gives the plain answer: yes, depending on where a fossil formed and what chemistry moved through it later. Not every fossil carries radioactivity. The setting matters, especially formations and minerals that can hold radioactive elements like uranium. Dipsy gives the question a body. Sitting near the Diplodocus, the conversation moves into the Morrison Formation, which Colin says is mined for uranium-bearing ores. From there, the fossil story gets wonderfully messy. Colin explains that bone may keep some original mineral material while also going through mineralization, demineralization, and remineralization over long stretches of time. Fossilization is not a neat conveyor belt. Acidic water can strip material out. Different conditions can put minerals back in. That history matters for the Permian bones Colin works with, 280-plus million years old and shaped by chemistry and pressure. Some fossil material turns hard and glassy. Some ends up fragile, bent, sheared, or partly wrecked by the same process that saved it. Johnny grabs for a steak analogy, and the kitchen detour works better than it should. Choices, timing, and conditions change the result. Colin keeps bringing it back to the lab problem: finding fossils is only part of the job. The harder part is reading what happened after burial, even when pressure has bent the evidence out of shape. A dead light finally gives them the excuse to wrap and leave room for another round.

As heard by us

A strange premise becomes a clear, patient look at how fossils change over time.

Radioactive Fossils takes a strange premise and turns it into a clear, grounded look at how bones can mineralize, demineralize, and sometimes end up in uranium-bearing settings.

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