Big Ideas Lab CAMS
Nov 18, 2025
Bruce Buchholz, a staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a leader in cold case discoveries, discusses the incredible potential of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). He reveals how AMS is used to date ancient footprints and solve cold cases, including exciting examples from Newfoundland and British Columbia. Bruce also shares insights on using the Cold War carbon-14 spike to accurately date samples. Additionally, he explores AMS's role in advancing biomedical research, shedding light on the dating of DNA in brain cells.
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Cold Case Solved Decades Later
- Detectives in British Columbia found a child's remains in 1968 and couldn't identify age or origin with the tools then available.
- Advanced radiocarbon dating at CAMS later used nuclear test carbon signatures to pinpoint birth and death dates, enabling legal identification.
Newfoundland Murder Unlocked By AMS
- Hunters found human remains in Newfoundland and investigators reached a dead end until they contacted Bruce Buchholz for AMS analysis.
- AMS dating of teeth placed birth around 1958 and death in the mid-1990s, enabling genetic genealogy to identify the victim.
Bomb Pulse As Precise Timestamp
- Above-ground nuclear tests created a carbon-14 'bomb pulse' that serves as a precise timestamp for post-1955 organic material.
- That pulse lets CAMS narrow ages to within months for samples formed during the rise and fall of atmospheric carbon-14.