2011 Science News of the Year: Science & Society

Following earthquake and tsunami, radiation is Japan’s true aftershock

The worst earthquake in Japan’s recorded history — and, at magnitude 9.0, one of the most powerful ever recorded — didn’t end when the shaking did on March 11. Within hours, a meters-high tsunami swamped much of the coastline, including the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, setting off the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine (SN: 4/9/11, p.