There WAS a danger of polluting his entire block with radioactivity, yes.
There was no danger of an explosion larger than his kitchen.
There was no danger of an explosion larger than his kitchen.
Man Arrested For Trying to Split the Atom at Home
- Thread starter The Wooster
- Start date
For one place, http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/radioactive-sources.htmlEvilsanta said:
Only $40 bucks for a small can of Uranium 238. No license required.
There are quite a number of places where one can "legally" purchase radioactive materials in small quanities.
For that matter, just go buy a smoke detector. They contain Americium 241, a by product of Plutonium decay in nuclear reactors.
Please.... Article already said the authorities reported there were no dangerous levels to be found. The guy couldn't even kill a flea.Jaeriko said:
Sorry to sound like a jerk here, but ignorant fear mongering by people who don't know diddly squat about what they are talking about does not help anyone or add anything constructive or usefull to the conversation.
Word of advice, don't ever buy yourself a geiger counter. You really don't want to know just how much radioactive material can be found in every day things that surround you. Like your water, food, medical supplies, air, soil, etc.. This nutty guy is the absolute LAST thing on the planet you or anyone else needs to worry about.
Between naturally occuring radation, which can reach fatal levels (like radon gas that leeches from the ground into people's homes), to radioactive treatment of products for saftey and sterilization, to the world wide contamination of every square inch of land and water on the planet with Cesium (amung others) thanks to the previous decades of above ground nuclear weapons testing.....simply existing as a living being on this planet exposes you to more radioactivity at any given time than this guy possessed.
...absolute moron. The main threat from this man may be either the possibility more reasonable and sinister folks might acquire radioactive materials from him or just contamination of his locale by substances no sane individual would let this fruitcake handle.Not G. Ivingname said:
We need better education in the physical sciences.
Okay, now correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't splitting atoms generally result in those little things known as NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS!? If so two years strikes me as kind of light considering he could have leveled the entire damn town and killed everyone within for the sake of sating his curiousity.
Seriously, you'd think he would've realised that screwing around with nuclear materials to pass the time may have been a bad idea after his so-called 'minor' stove-top nuclear meltdown.
Seriously, you'd think he would've realised that screwing around with nuclear materials to pass the time may have been a bad idea after his so-called 'minor' stove-top nuclear meltdown.
Thank you!Artlover said:
It seems every thread about science is immediately populated by folks whose science is learned from Saturday Morning Cartoons. That's not only disappointing, but it prevents any actual discussion from taking place.
I don't believe injecting sense into a conversation makes you a jerk.
However, as a final note, let's distinguish between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation and from a short term source to a decaying substance. The irradiation of beef with UV light is designed to kill enterobacteria of various sorts that could harm consumers. It's the same mechanism as a sunburn; the light causes minor DNA damage which most cells can repair. Since the bacteria in question live in the guts of animals, they don't really have the ability to resist ultraviolet light. They have no need of it when in our colons! However, this exposure to radiation ends as soon as you turn off the UV light. It's like a tanning bed; the damage is done while under the bed, not hours later. (The cells may die hours later if they can't repair themselves, but this isn't the time or place for a pathology discussion.)
Radioactive substances linger, can infiltrate tissues, and can continue to do damage for much longer. Additionally, shorter wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation can penetrate tissues (unlike UV light, which cannot) and cause much more grave DNA damage. (UV: T-T dimers, not as bad as full double-strand breaks.)
Sorry folks, simply saying "radiation" doesn't mean squat. Be clear about what and how much you're talking about. I think I'm going to soak up some radiation while reading a book now.
You're wrong.BakaSmurf said:
Atoms split all the time through decay; what we call alpha decay is nothing more than the splitting off of a full on helium nucleus. In order to have a fission explosion, you need a critical mass, a primary explosion, and so on in order to get a chain reaction. No, you can't have a mini-Manhattan Project with the stuff from Wal-Mart.
The "meltdown" was a vigorous, normal reaction when the bloke mixed sulfuric acid and metals. Folks, acids and metals don't mix if you don't know what you're doing. Or, more strictly speaking, they do in ways which you will hopefully live to regret.
And based on the spelling on his blog, I think we can safely say he never will never get past ordinary chemical burns or fires thanks to outright stupidity. /ad hominem
See my previous reply. ANYONE can already legaly buy readioactive materials in small non dangerous quanities. Your concern here is completely invalid and moot.thedoclc said:
Couldn't aggree more. Starting with 99% of the people replying in this thread.thedoclc said:
Wrong. Otherwise every nuclear reactor and cyclotron would have exploded the instant they were turned on. Only nuclear weapons designed to explode cause nuclear explosions. The physics of creating an explosion is quite specific and not something that occurs naturally or could be done accidently. Biggest issue is the minimum quanity requirements. 35 pounds of highly enriched Uranium or 9 pounds of highly enriched Plutonium. You don't buy that online or even from your local blackmarket. If it was that easy, every crackpot in the world would have already had one of their own.BakaSmurf said:
Couldn't aggree more. Starting with 99% of the people replying in this thread. (no not an accidental double quote. It's just so true, it's worth repeating).thedoclc said:
You can get americium from fire detectors and radium is easy to get from chem supply stores. Small amounts do not require an institutional license. In fact uranium is perfectly legal to own in the US but you cannot weaponize it or own the tools to do stuff with it without an institutional license.Irony said:
Huh, never knew you could get stuff like that so easily. Especially stuff that can be so easily used to make a nuclear reactor.crepesack said:
Well...Atleast he would be cool in prison 'What'd you get put in here for?' 'I tried to do nuclear experiments in my kitchen!'