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Detailed explanation-1: -The task was daunting: find a tiny radioactive capsule that had fallen off a truck somewhere in Western Australia’s vast outback sometime in January. It was described by media and officials alike as searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but experts involved in the hunt were upbeat about their prospects.

Detailed explanation-2: -Just 8mm by 6mm – the size of a 10c coin – the capsule fell out of a truck on its way from a Rio Tinto mine site in Western Australia’s Pilbara region to Perth, sparking a six-day hunt across the 1, 400km desert route.

Detailed explanation-3: -The device was smaller than a penny, while the search zone was an 870-mile stretch of highway cutting across vast tracts of desert. But the search took just six days, with the authorities announcing on Wednesday afternoon that the capsule had been recovered in what they called an “extraordinary result.”

Detailed explanation-4: -A view shows the area where a radioactive capsule was found, near Newman, Australia, Feb. 1, 2023. The capsule contained materials that are “a million times more active” than those used in a lab, Di Fulvio said, describing it as a “very active” source.

Detailed explanation-5: -The radioactive capsule was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed at the mine in the state’s remote Kimberley region. A 20-metre exclusion zone has been established where the device was found, just a short distance from where it began its 1, 400km journey to Perth.