Astatine, in its most stable form, has a half-life of 8 hours, meaning all the energy emitted by a plutonium space probe over a century would be emitted by an equivalent lump of astatine in an afternoon.

factualpending

Speaker

Randall Munroe

Evidence Quote

“all of the energy emitted by the plutonium powering the Curiosity Rover over the course of the next century...is being limited by our lump of astatine in an afternoon”

Source

What If? | Randall Munroe | Talks at Google— Talks at Google
Created: 8/11/2026, 1:26:46 AM

My Notes

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