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ScienceSurprise 5/5Difficulty 4/5Reviewed on September 13, 2026

The plutonium-244 found on the ocean floor was produced by underwater nuclear explosions.

Why it is true

Scientists found atoms of plutonium-244 in a crust from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, nearly 5,000 metres deep. This long-lived radioactive isotope does not occur naturally on Earth and is produced in extreme cosmic events, such as neutron star collisions.

Source: EurekAlert

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