National Taiwan University
Published on 4 February 2026
A research team from National Taiwan University (NTU) , led by Postdoc Hu Xunming and Professor Shen Chuan-chou, has successfully recalculated the half-life of uranium-234, overcoming a technical bottleneck that has persisted since the 1960s. Their work extends the reliable range of uranium–thorium dating from 600,000 to 800,000 years and reduces dating errors, offering important insights for Earth sciences and human evolution. The results were published in Science Advances on October 1, 2025.
The team used advanced mass spectrometry to simulate and correct interference from uranium-238, improving the measurement precision nearly fourfold. They established uranium-234’s half-life at 245,670 ± 260 years, about 50 years longer than previous estimates. This precision allows for more accurate dating of older geological samples, including those critical for studying ancient climate cycles and early human evolution.
The new method also requires only a third of the sample material compared with traditional approaches, making it suitable for rare minerals, fossils, and archaeological artifacts. The international project involved 11 research institutions from the U.S., Australia, and Asia, supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education, and positions NTU at the forefront of high-precision geochronology.
https://www.ntu.edu.tw/spotlight/2025/2414_20251008.html
