Seeing stars, finding nukes: Radio telescopes can spot clandestine nuclear tests

In the search for rogue nukes, researchers have discovered an unlikely tool: astronomical radio telescopes. Researchers from the same university previously demonstrated another unlikely tool, when they showed that South Korean GPS stations detected telltale atmospheric disturbances from North Korea’s 2009 nuclear test. Both techniques were born out of the discovery that underground nuclear explosions leave their mark—on the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.

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