A century ago, renowned scientist Marie Curie visited the United States for the first time, receiving at the White House a gram of radium - a radioactive element that is very difficult to extract, and could cost at the time more than ten times the price of a diamond of the same weight. The trip was made possible thanks to the efforts of American journalist Marie Meloney, who was fascinated by Curie's personality. After the winner of two Nobel Prizes expressed interest in acquiring radium as part of her research projects, the reporter launched a fundraising campaign in order to purchase it. A hundred years later, their descendants revisit this "important friendship" which changed the course of science history. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES