It’s more than a year since a titanic earthquake sparked a meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, but we still don’t know much about the long-term impacts of the radiation-spewing disaster. But we’re starting to learn some things, and—surprise!—it’s bad news. New research just published in Nature magazine concludes that the radiation caused “physiological and genetic damage” that is leading to “severe abnormalities” in local butterflies. That’s bad in itself, and could also be an indicator of other health problems, including heightened cancer risks, for humans living in the area.
