Man Arrested For Trying to Split the Atom at Home
- Thread starter The Wooster
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I hope he doesn't get jailed, sure was a pretty stupid thing to attempt, but he was smart enough to report himself before he did anything.
Just a curious and law-abiding citizen with an interest in science.Not G. Ivingname said:
I hope they aren't being too heavy-handed with him (as police are known for doing), considering he DID alert them ahead of time.
I don't know what to think of this. Take a look at his blog if you didn't.
There really... isn't much evidence of him doing anything questionable. A bunch of posts about certain elements using a hodgepodge of mismatching images (so likely Google Image Search derived than from his own personal camera) and then a single post on one experiment (the "meltdown") that just shows a dirty kitchen (as in regular, garden variety dirty) and a messed up beaker. Then a few posts on the arrest and media response. To me, it doesn't really look like he got much further than the planning and prep stages.
So, from his blog it's impossible to discount the possibility that he could've been all talk. I mean, obviously he had plans, but it doesn't look like anything serious actually happened yet, and the state of his kitchen doesn't seem to say much about his level of rigour. Melted goo in a beaker != "meltdown". The only real substantial evidence to the contrary is that the authorities found some radiactive elements stored in his house. Kinda a shame there because I got excited when I saw the link to his blog above...
There really... isn't much evidence of him doing anything questionable. A bunch of posts about certain elements using a hodgepodge of mismatching images (so likely Google Image Search derived than from his own personal camera) and then a single post on one experiment (the "meltdown") that just shows a dirty kitchen (as in regular, garden variety dirty) and a messed up beaker. Then a few posts on the arrest and media response. To me, it doesn't really look like he got much further than the planning and prep stages.
So, from his blog it's impossible to discount the possibility that he could've been all talk. I mean, obviously he had plans, but it doesn't look like anything serious actually happened yet, and the state of his kitchen doesn't seem to say much about his level of rigour. Melted goo in a beaker != "meltdown". The only real substantial evidence to the contrary is that the authorities found some radiactive elements stored in his house. Kinda a shame there because I got excited when I saw the link to his blog above...
That does not invalidate my point. This nut was handling compounds which are known to have health risks and should be handled as hazmat by non-morons. I'm not talking about him building a dirty bomb. Based on the photos of his kitchen I think more local contamination is certainly a possibility. Put simply, I would not want someone mucking about like this in an apartment which shares a ventilation system with mine. He was working with radium, a known carcinogen, and was based on what we know working with little to no safe lab practice.Artlover said:
Analogies are always suspect, but this would be like having having some crackpot who thinks he's a microbiologist fiddle around with Strept, some agar, and a blow dryer. He may not unleash a plague, but he may just give his neighbors pneumonia.
And yes, anyone can -buy- these materials, but when someone already has them stockpiled, it's a different situation because I do not believe he had control over where his hazmat materials were. Again, I think you believe I'm talking about a spectacular act - the kind the word terrorism usually evokes - when I'm thinking smaller, like dumb kids with gunpowder and free time. For example, if I had ammonium nitrate for agricultural purposes, and I did not take precautions with it, I would be at least partly responsible and liable if some idiot winds up deciding to have fun with it, steals it, and winds up burning down a barn. Likewise, if I contaminate my local area with the products I'm using (lawfully), I may still be responsible and liable for the harm this does to other people.
I need my pimp cane.
(Twice in one month.)
OT: At the risk of sounding like a stick in the mud, I don't think it was a good idea to start doing nuclear experiments with taking little precaution. Sure he didn't take those pills or juice that were next to his meltdown, but can he really constitute himself as being safe solely on that?
(Twice in one month.)
OT: At the risk of sounding like a stick in the mud, I don't think it was a good idea to start doing nuclear experiments with taking little precaution. Sure he didn't take those pills or juice that were next to his meltdown, but can he really constitute himself as being safe solely on that?
to those who think it is hard to get radioactive material... just search ebay for uranium and bask in the glory of science
The thing is - the people at the Swedish radiation authority are not being douchebags by calling the police. They were trying to keep this guy from taking out the neighborhood if something went wrong.
I can honestly say I would have done the same thing, were I in their shoes.
I can honestly say I would have done the same thing, were I in their shoes.
Haha that was quite a fun readVakz said:
Quite odd that he actually had three police uniforms...
Loved this part:
"Nä, men jag delade med mig av min blogg på Facebook, där jag har min jämnårige granne som vän. Han blev lite fundersam o frågade lite."
"Men det var jag själv som anmälde mig till Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten. O de överreagerar ju så... Jag hade t.ex mitt Radium i sovrummet, men de ville bestämmt komma ner o mäta i min lägenhet. Så nästa dag ringer det o så är det polisen som beordrar mig att gå ut ur lägenheten med händerna över huvudet. Folk i skyddsdräkter kommer fram till mig med mätare o scannar hela kroppen! Så jävla tramsigt!"
I loled quite hard
Googled translated:
"Nah, but I shared with you my blog on Facebook, where I have my peers neighbor as a friend. He was a little hesitant o asked little."
"But it was me who reported me to the SSM. Oh they are so over-react ... I had my example Radium in the bedroom, but they did bestämmt come down o measure in my apartment. So the next day calling the o, it's the police who orders me to leave the apartment with his hands over his head. People in protective suits come up to me with o meter scans the entire body! So damn frivolous!"
From his blog: "An Uranium glass-marble I have. The green color comes from Uranium."
Surely only a genius could speak such truths.
Surely only a genius could speak such truths.
You know what? Congratulation to the Swedish police, because they clearly arrested a supervillain.
Although, the fact he was able to get far enough for a "small meltdown" is pretty damned amazing...
Although, the fact he was able to get far enough for a "small meltdown" is pretty damned amazing...
So maybe he violated some safety regulations. No one died or caught cancer, did they?
This guy should be hired for nuclear research. He may very well break through with cold fusion power.
This guy should be hired for nuclear research. He may very well break through with cold fusion power.
What I'd be worried about rather than some nuclear explosion (which is pretty hard to create without packing a lot of explosives around a lot of nuclear material) would be a supercriticality accident. Splitting the atom isn't really all that hard. Just put a fair bit of high-grade uranium together and it's radiation will cause it to begin spontaneously fissioning. It won't explode, but it will spew out lethal levels of radiation. And such accidents have killed people before.
Irony said:
That quote is from his blog. On a BBC interview he said he got much of his material from Ebay. That is right Ebay!!!
Gas lantern mantels for Thoriumoxide, common at any camping store (or even a hardware store).
You would all be very surprised about what is in everyday items that could be used to make the
Guys... splitting an atom doesn't create explosions. Fission requires a little more than just that. :| I doubt it'd create much effectual radiation to begin with. Put this guy in a lab, imo, he wants to do great things, let him.