Blocks 8 to 10 (Top Row)
The next three blocks highlight early research on nuclear fission and fusion. With cartoons entitled splitting or “breaking” an atom (genshi kaku wo kowasu) Block Eight alludes to the concept of fission, a process of radioactive decay where the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. Next, in Block Nine, the game focuses on "the discovery of artificial radioactivity" (jinkō hōshanō hakken), or decay, discovered by Frédéric Joliot and Irène Curie Joliot, the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie. The married couple earned the Nobel Prize in 1935 after artificially inducing radioactive decay by smashing helium particles into aluminum. Finally, Block Ten alludes to the topic of nuclear fusion, which occurs when two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles. The game's cartoon about the "isotopes of hydrogen" (Suiso no dōigenso) alludes to the fuels used for nuclear fusion: deuterium and tritium, both heavy isotopes of hydrogen.