This porcelain bowl was found among the ruins of the city after the atomic bomb explosion on 6 August 1945. As a result of the heat of the explosion, the glaze melted and sand and stones became embedded in it.

The bomb killed almost 80,000 people directly and the radioactive contamination it left behind killed an estimated 60,000 more.

For me, this is one of the most impactful objects in the science museum. It’s not a piece of scientific equipment and neither is it a demonstration of the wonders of what science can achieve. Rather than just presenting visitors with the glories of scientific progress, science museums can also present us with warnings about what we, as humans and as scientists, can do.