Energy & Environmental Information
![Colossiin Egypt, Titanosaur & Rhabdodon dinosaurs (image courtesy of “http://www.nhmmaastricht.nl/nederlands/exposities/tijdelijk/dinosaurs/engl/contentdino2.htm”, Drake's plate.](images/einfo-students-ap.png)
Archaeology & Paleontology at EETD and Berkeley Lab
Several scientists who were or are in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division have made contributions to research in archaeology and paleontology.
Frank Asaro, Robert Giauque, and the late Fred Stross have, for some 30 years, used neutron activation analysis and x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to study the age and origin of artifacts to help archaeologists and historians better understand the past.
Asaro and Helen Michels worked with Luis Alvarez and George Muller to propose and gather evidence that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Here are some readings on these topics.
- Nuclear Physics Sheds Light on Ancient Archaeological Mysteries
December 1999
- Drake's Plate—The End of the Mystery?
February 2003
April 2003
- Silver Anomalies Found in Jerusalem Pottery Hint at Wealth During Second Temple Period
September 2006
- Investigating a Mass Extinction Occurring 65 Million Years Ago
Fall 1979
- Does a Companion Star to Sun Cause Periodic Mass Extinctions on Earth?
Spring 1987
- Neutron Activation Analysis
August 2000