New Uranium Compound Could Lead to Atomic Hard Drives

[Arcanist]

the research is using non-radioactive depleted uranium, a by-product of uranium enrichment.

I find this extraordinarily hard to believe, mostly because there's no such thing as non-radioactive uranium, considering the fact that it has no stable isotope.

Still, a depleted version would be markedly less radioactive, so you could probably encase it in a thin sheet of lead and be perfectly safe.

Depleted uranium is a broken down form of uranium into the highest stable atomic structure it can be, which is lead, except with a couple of extra subatomic particles in it for extra mass.


Don't worry people, a 3 molecule thick collection of depleted uranium isn't going to do much to the background level of any room, especially encased in a hard drive mount, in a hard drive. It sure as hell isn't going to melt down, burn through your computer, and become a pile of radioactive slag.

Does it have 92 protons? No? Then it's no longer uranium, end of story. It might be a different, stable isotope of lead, but it's the number of protons that dictates the species of an element.

 

[vxicepickxv]

its not weapons grade uranium so its impossible to detonate but the radition would be an issue. (most people don't realize that lead shielding only stops some forms of radiation.)

Well, it has the potential to stop all of it, but the scale you would need could get pretty high, but I think going too far into Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle when talking about deflecting individual neutrons might be a bit excessive for the average reader here.

 

[vxicepickxv]

the research is using non-radioactive depleted uranium, a by-product of uranium enrichment.

I find this extraordinarily hard to believe, mostly because there's no such thing as non-radioactive uranium, considering the fact that it has no stable isotope.

Still, a depleted version would be markedly less radioactive, so you could probably encase it in a thin sheet of lead and be perfectly safe.

Depleted uranium is a broken down form of uranium into the highest stable atomic structure it can be, which is lead, except with a couple of extra subatomic particles in it for extra mass.


Don't worry people, a 3 molecule thick collection of depleted uranium isn't going to do much to the background level of any room, especially encased in a hard drive mount, in a hard drive. It sure as hell isn't going to melt down, burn through your computer, and become a pile of radioactive slag.

Does it have 92 protons? No? Then it's no longer uranium, end of story. It might be a different, stable isotope of lead, but it's the number of protons that dictates the species of an element.

The difference between what's called depleted uranium and "regular" lead is nothing more than leftover neutrons from fission. I'm pretty sure we can reach agreement there.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Oh no, my computer is overheating! I have to shut it off before-*Atomic Blast*

OT: This seems like a dumb idea... but if they can find a way on how to handle Uranium properly, then I think we should go for it.

 

[FarleShadow]

Yeah, that is shady. Even when it is depleted it is still very radioactive.
So i would not want one of those in my house.
If they wanna use them in server-farms to store data be my guest.
But there is already way too much chemical stuff that is bad for your health
in any household and adding depleted uranium would not help it at all.

you need a TINFOIL HAT! My friend. Also a physics lesson.

That said, this product will never reach market, because for everyone willing to ride the edge of SCIENCE! we're gunna have millions of detractors worrying that our Depleted Uranium hardrives are going to nuke baby jesus. And FauxNews.

Maybe they'd do better if they said it was made from 'UnUranium!', no lemon scented kneejerking with UnUranium!

 

[Woodsey]

As long as it doesn't affect my balls, I'll take two.

 

[thisbymaster]

Has anyone actually seen the video on this very compound on youtube? It is remarkable, what they've done but Steve Liddle himself and Martyn Poliakoff dismiss it due to the fact that it only works between 0 and 2 degrees kelvin.

Here's the video about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZycn7o7Po


Also while you're at it, go ahead and watch everything else Brady Haran has done with the University of Nottingham, you won't regret it

That was enlightening, as per the fact that this would only work at -2 Kelvin. Not F or C, K.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

"Is your hard drive an ancient piece crap? Well don't worry, your buddy Cave's got ya covered. Meet the Aperture Hard Drive, we've used the best atomic science money can buy to give this hard drive 100x the space of your crappy one. Using a special uranium powder there's no limit to how much porn you can stuff in there!" *insert animation of two companion cubes smashing together on a computer screen* "Just so you know Aperture is not responsible for any nuclear disasters you may cause when using your hard drive. Cave doesn't like getting sued."

I imagined this in Cave's voice. I'm not sure when I'll stop laughing.

 

[Arcanist]

The difference between what's called depleted uranium and "regular" lead is nothing more than leftover neutrons from fission. I'm pretty sure we can reach agreement there.

Yes, but I still think it's a bit disingenuous to call it 'uranium' and not its proper nuclear annotation, Lead-207(or whatever it is).

 

[Tom Goldman]

the research is using non-radioactive depleted uranium, a by-product of uranium enrichment.

I find this extraordinarily hard to believe, mostly because there's no such thing as non-radioactive uranium, considering the fact that it has no stable isotope.

Still, a depleted version would be markedly less radioactive, so you could probably encase it in a thin sheet of lead and be perfectly safe.

Apparently you're right? Jeeze, I don't know. Someone get a scientist on the phone.

 

[FarleShadow]

OT: Waiting for my 500 Tb external drive already Scientists, GET TO WORK!

Pirate every game in existance?

 

[vxicepickxv]

Has anyone actually seen the video on this very compound on youtube? It is remarkable, what they've done but Steve Liddle himself and Martyn Poliakoff dismiss it due to the fact that it only works between 0 and 2 degrees kelvin.

Here's the video about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZycn7o7Po


Also while you're at it, go ahead and watch everything else Brady Haran has done with the University of Nottingham, you won't regret it

That was enlightening, as per the fact that this would only work at -2 Kelvin. Not F or C, K.

-2 Kelvin, so it will never work. That's interesting. You should have said below 2 Kelvin, which is different from an impossible number.

 

[yndsu]

Yeah, that is shady. Even when it is depleted it is still very radioactive.
So i would not want one of those in my house.
If they wanna use them in server-farms to store data be my guest.
But there is already way too much chemical stuff that is bad for your health
in any household and adding depleted uranium would not help it at all.

you need a TINFOIL HAT! My friend. Also a physics lesson.

That said, this product will never reach market, because for everyone willing to ride the edge of SCIENCE! we're gunna have millions of detractors worrying that our Depleted Uranium hardrives are going to nuke baby jesus. And FauxNews.

Maybe they'd do better if they said it was made from 'UnUranium!', no lemon scented kneejerking with UnUranium!

I'll leave the tinfoil hats to Americans.
On the physics side you are prolly right, i could have studied more.
And about the depleted uranium. Yes, most of what i know of it comes from the info i have
read on the depleted uranium rouds used by military in Iraq and other war-zones. And the
way it is used there does cause radiation, mainly because they do use other agents that burn at high temperature and thus release the uranium particles that actaully are very unhealthy.

So yeah, that is my reasoning behind it.
I do not want any uranium in my house, even if it would be available one day.
And if that makes me worthy of a tinfoil hat then so be it. I can live with it.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

Anything that increases drive capacity, accuracy, and read / write speed; especially if it doesn't carry with it an unreasonable price abuse based of previous technology. I'm kidding myself if I even entertain the notion they won't do this for a second. However, until the more sophisticated technology becomes commercially viable I'll settle for molecule magnetics with no argument.

Well unless you call not buying overpriced release products argument.

 

[Canid117]

Yeah, in theese times of terrorist scares just who is going to be comfortable with releasing Uranium to the general public.

And dont think like someone who knows that this cant be purified to pure Uranium, think like someone who believes Fox News.

http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Inc-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM

To quote one of the reviewers.
"So glad I don't have to buy this from Libyans in parking lots at the mall anymore."

 

[master m99]

and i just declined a university application from there, DOH!, oh wellprefer manchester for chem =)

 

[vxicepickxv]

The difference between what's called depleted uranium and "regular" lead is nothing more than leftover neutrons from fission. I'm pretty sure we can reach agreement there.

Yes, but I still think it's a bit disingenuous to call it 'uranium' and not its proper nuclear annotation, Lead-207(or whatever it is).

Depleted Uranium as is typically called is basically leftover from enrichment. It really is basically all the uranium that couldn't be used for something else, and will ultimately break down. I can understand the difference, having worked with both depleted uranium(which is all but calling it junk uranium) and lead. They don't behave the same.

The weird part is that it's actually uranium, but on a scale as small as shown in the youtube video isn't really going to hurt an adult unless you spend a long time directly exposed to it. The odds of children being harmed by it are slightly greater, but with a total mass that small, you're not really going to do much to children without constant exposure.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Putting health concerns aside, does the average user even need that much space? The amount of space offered by modern hard drives is already way more than most people actually require. As such, I fail to see much of a benefit from even larger hard drives, at least not at this point in time.