Marie Curie's Body Was So Radioactive She Had To Be Buried In A Lead-Lined Coffin

A woman scientist's body had too much radioactivity, so when she died, she had to be put in a special coffin lined with lead.

Strangely, in 2023, there are some stories about coffins. One of them is called the 'world's first living' coffin, and surprisingly, it's good for the environment.

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This specific coffin wasn't created with the environment as the main concern. Instead, its design aimed to contain a significant amount of radiation.

The renowned physicist Marie Curie is globally celebrated for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity, leading to her receiving two Nobel Prizes for her achievements. 

Born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, as the youngest of five siblings, Curie's significant contributions to physics and chemistry earned her the esteemed title of the 'mother of modern physics.'

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In 1896, the French physicist Henri Becquerel found that uranium salts emitted rays similar to X-rays, able to pass through objects. 

This discovery played a crucial role in launching Marie Curie's career. Alongside her husband, Pierre Curie, she discovered radium and polonium in 1898, naming the latter after her home country, Poland.

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Their groundbreaking work earned them half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, the other half going to Becquerel. Marie Curie received another Nobel Prize in 1911, this time in Chemistry, for isolating pure radium.

Tragically, she passed away in July 1934 from aplastic anemia, believed to be caused by prolonged exposure to radiation.

Aplastic anemia is a rare blood condition where the bone marrow can't produce enough new blood cells, affecting the proper functioning of the body, as explained by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Later on, Marie Curie was laid to rest alongside her husband in the Pantheon in France.

When they decided to move Marie Curie's body in 1995, they found out something surprising. Her body was inside a coffin with lead because it had a lot of radiation.

People used to think the coffin was made of wood. But when they opened it, the French radiation protection agency discovered it had 2.5 millimeters of lead inside.

That's not the only thing of Curie's that's kept away. Her notebooks also got a lot of radiation, and they are in boxes with lead at the Bibliotheque National in Paris, France. 

These notebooks are expected to stay radioactive for another 1,500 years. If anyone wants to see them, they have to wear a special suit and sign a paper to say they know about the risks.

Visiting the museum where these things are kept can be risky, I think.