![]() ![]() Scientists fleeing Europe, including Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, alerted the US that Germany could develop an atomic bomb. In 1938, German chemist Otto Hahn revealed that he'd created fission by blasting neutrons at a uranium core. ![]() Leading up to the war, Germany was a world leader in physics, and the science of nuclear energy was in its infancy. "They are the motivation for the entire Manhattan project," he said. Koeth describes the cubes as "the only living relic" of Nazi Germany's nuclear effort. Consoli/UMD) Small cubes with a long history After years of research, they told Insider they think they know what happened. Hiebert and Timothy Koeth, a professor of material science and engineering at the University of Maryland, are writing a book about the cubes. But even after that, what happened to most of the cubes is still unclear. Over 600 were captured and brought back to the US in the 40s. ![]() As far as researchers know, only 14 cubes remain in the world, out of more than 1,000 used in Nazi Germany's experiments with nuclear weapons. The cubes were once part of experimental nuclear reactors the Nazis designed during World War II. That's because they're made of the heaviest element on Earth: uranium. The weight of the 2-inch (5 cm) objects might be surprising, though – each is about 5 pounds (2 kg). ![]()
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