If your mother is radioactive, will you be born radioactive too?

https://pixabay.com/en/nature-animals-wild-boar-boar-980145/
@Rollo1 (16679)
Boston, Massachusetts
April 7, 2016 5:48am CST
My favorite headline of the day comes from the Mirror and it's this: "Rampaging RADIOACTIVE wild boars causing havoc near Fukushima nuclear plant and breeding like rabbits" * I found the headline so intriguing, I did something I never do. I read the article. But before I did, my imagination had already taken flight and I was left with so many questions. See, the fact that the word "radioactive" was in upper case and so prominently placed in the headline made me believe it was important. But it's not apparently. I was imagining glow-in-the-dark wild boar having litters of glowing baby boar. And I thought radioactivity would sterilize anyone exposed to it, but instead it seemed to be making them breed like rabbits. Which made me wonder, if your mom is radioactive, would you be born radioactive too? I found a fact sheet on radiation in pregnancy, but it dealt mostly with the possibility of radiation exposure during pregnancy, not an actual radioactive mother. Of course, it's just another case of the people who write up news stories trying for the most attention-arresting headline they can concoct. The radioactivity of the boar is only a problem in that when they kill the rampaging herds, they can't eat them. Like Chernobyl, it's a great opportunity to watch what really happens following a nuclear accident. Scientists will learn a lot about radiation exposure following a nuclear accident and its effects on the environment and the wildlife. Of course, they may not learn what they need to know in time to prevent more disasters, which is pretty much how humans seem to learn - from their mistakes. *http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/rampaging-radioactive-wild-boars-causing-7705006 **Image from Pixabay free images
20 people like this
23 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
7 Apr 16
I do like the idea of a wild boar glowing in the dark. They would make an excellent pet because we would save some money by using them as lighting in the evenings. Obviously we would have to keep them outdoors at night, which would bring a new meaning to the term “Put the light out”.
4 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
You could keep them on the porch at night, to scare off would-be intruders.
4 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
7 Apr 16
@Rollo1 This is true because people would think that aliens had landed.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
7 Apr 16
lol I really hate those sensational headlines, they rarely deliver what the promise, an interesting article.!! How are you enjoying the cold? I am already tired of it and ready to see a little spring. Today we are getting heavy rain, what next?
2 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
At least it is rain and not snow. I am glad of it because the rain washed the snow off the outside stairs. But, I could do with temps around 64.
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
7 Apr 16
The newspapers always sensationalize the headlines so you will read the whole article and half the time it is not even fascinating. If they can't eat them then what will they do with them I wonder.
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
7 Apr 16
@Rollo1 Oh no how awful but they can't let them go wandering around now, can they?
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
They are burying them in mass graves as they shoot them.
@LadyDuck (458006)
• Switzerland
7 Apr 16
I remember very well that when there was the Chernobyl nuclear accidents, the wild boars in many European countries were contaminated because they mainly eat tubers and mushrooms and those plants are the one that gets more radiations. I think we learned nothing 30 years ago and still will learn nothing.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
I find it amazing that so many people still live in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. I don't think they allow it at Fukushima.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458006)
• Switzerland
8 Apr 16
@Rollo1 No, I think that they do not allow people to live at Fukushima, but I have seen a documentary about a large community of people who never left the Chernobyl exclusion zone and they all looked pretty healthy. I am sure they do not tell us everything.
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
7 Apr 16
Does being radioactive imply luminescence, or phosphorescence? I am not sure... hardly the epitome of objective reporting, the Mirror.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
It's hard to be objective about radioactive boar.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
7 Apr 16
@Rollo1 Especilly if it's boar bearing down on you at a large rate of knots ...
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
7 Apr 16
Those catchy headlines and the rabbit trails they lead us down. I have this curiosity, that makes me need to find out more. This is what also drives me crazy when things are constantly being shared on Facebook that 10 seconds of research will disprove.
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (48415)
• Canada
7 Apr 16
It sounds like the article failed to live up to the expectations set out with that powerful title.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
I think it would have been more interesting if they were rabid, at least there'd be foaming at the mouth or something...
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
8 Apr 16
I suppose it's an opportunity to study the effects of radiation on living things - good job those living things aren't humans.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
8 Apr 16
I wonder where all the humans are? so many had to abandon their homes which the boars now use to breed more radioactive boar-lets in.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
8 Apr 16
maybe adds birth defects and tumors and cancer and such, but I admit I pictured glow in the dark pigs too
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
8 Apr 16
It's what we all think of at first, isn't it?
1 person likes this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
7 Apr 16
I always like the headlines that read something like "SUV runs over eight!" you have to read the article to see how the heck the SUV did that by itself and what /who did it run over.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
Headlines always promise so much, and let you imagine what they don't tell you. The articles are usually disappointing,
1 person likes this
@DianneN (246720)
• United States
7 Apr 16
I don't bother reading sensationalized newspapers and am cautious about what I read online. However, you gave me a good laugh!
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
There's not much point in reading the real news - it's all bad and predictable. Read the tabloids! So much more fun and you don't have to worry about any of it being real!
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (18923)
• United States
7 Apr 16
They could have had small traces of it and then get pregnant. But yes your mind does go wild with that kind of headline.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
Well, I guess we will know in a few years if they all make geiger counters go off.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325720)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Apr 16
I would have found this intriguing too. And you're about humans mostly learning from their mistakes.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
I know some people who don't even learn that way. They just never learn.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325720)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Apr 16
@Rollo1 That's true too of course - but they still go on breeding. :)
@BettyB (4117)
• Summerville, South Carolina
8 Apr 16
That is an attention getting headline. We humans make a lot of mistakes. We learn from them but then we go on to make more mistakes.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
8 Apr 16
Hey Betty, nice to see you migrated over here. How do you like myLot? I don't think it will be a mistake like the B-site was.
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
9 Apr 16
I always found incidents like that fascinating. I think it's more the idea of a virtual ghost town that fascinates me, how one minute everything is busy and booming, and then the next day everyone just leaves everything the way it is and flees. It's interesting to me, and the fact that despite incidents we haven't completely learned from our mistakes, but it does seem we are improving some. Nuclear power plants make me nervous. We have one not too terribly far from where I live, and if something were to happen I would have to evacuate. It's a scary thought, especially considering we get bad storms and tornadoes here.
@iamshane487 (1139)
• Manila, Philippines
8 Apr 16
Sounds so interesting and I like the way you said that some of the writers are just making their catchy headlines to get the numerous visits.
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
8 Apr 16
I head that radioactive pregnancies dont always turn out for the good. No I didnt have a radio active mom at all !
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
7 Apr 16
Sometimes the best news is a bit crazy all because the writer thinks Big Headlines make big news. Poor babies can't be eaten so might not have to die and will be radioactive forever, forever glowing in the dark - developing a new species, forever not being eaten... I don't think I want one as a pet...
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
7 Apr 16
I have seen the sizes these wild boar can reach. A giant boar that is radioactive? Sounds like something out of the Fire Swamp. RABOUS - Radioactive Boars of Unusual Size.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
8 Apr 16
Okay, now I really crave a little glow in the dark boar as a pet! That would be so cute!
@just4him (306113)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
8 Apr 16
Interesting headlines. You could do a lot with a headline like that and you did.