Katsuko Saruhashi turned radioactive fallout into a scientific legacy

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates Japanese geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi, whose research helped reveal the insidious spread of radioactive fallout from the US nuclear testing ground in the Pacific. If she were still alive, today would have been her 98th birthday.In 1957, Saruhashi became the first woman to receive a PhD in chemistry in Japan. Her work focused on measuring the molecules in seawater — like carbon dioxide, oxygen, and also radioactive molecules like cesium-137. Just twel