Do you collect radioactive specimens. I do.

@VKXY62 (1605)
Australia
March 14, 2007 1:55pm CST
I am wondering how many Mylotters are into the science of radiation? I have been collecting radioactive specimens for many years. I have many mineral specimens of uranium and thorium minerals, some of them very rare species. I also have old radium clocks and thorium mantles from old gas lanterns. I built my first geiger counter back in the 1980's and then built a digital event counter with an red LED display and put that in the geiger counter box. I have samples of what I believe to be a most historical event. I have green radioactive glass that is in fact melted sand from the desert in the USA where the very first atomic bomb was detonated, the trinity blast. So what radioactive elements do I posses? Caesium, Strontium, Radium, Thorium, Uranium, Plutonium and Americium. The Caesium, Strontium and Plutonium are only very small amounts and were produced by nuclear fission chain reaction. Samples of Americium are easily obtained from smoke detectors, this element did not exist before being made by people. The study of unstable radioactive elements and atomic physics and elemental energy levels, I find most interesting. I also enjoy collecting giant molecules, most of you will know these as being called crystals. I once had beautiful specimens of Saleeite and meta-sklodowskite, but silly me sold them thinking I could always get more, but more than ten years later, have never seen them available. I recently obtained a zinc sulphide scintillation screen and want to try and make a movie of alpha particle collisions using my microscope and digital camera. I built a cloud chamber using frozen carbon dioxide and it worked perfectly, I could see tracks made by cosmic rays from outer space and the secondary and other generations of particles that were produced by them, all real, in front of me in live time. Are you a an interested person, or do you think I'm absolutely mad?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@mipen2006 (5528)
• Australia
15 Mar 07
This stuff doesn't really interest me, but your hobby fascinates me, although I know very little about chemistry or physics. With all this radiation gear around your place, please don't invite me to dinner. Really very interesting stuff, I can put my Macquarie Encyclopedic Dictionary away now.
@VKXY62 (1605)
• Australia
15 Mar 07
Ha ha, G'day mipen, oh I know it sounds scary, but you probably got a bigger dose of radiation the last time you saw your dentist or doctor and had an x-ray, than the level of zap that I receive from my rock and mineral specimens in years. I am very interested in the cold fusion debate, there seem to be more and more converts to the Yes side every day. I might have to poke my nose into this a bit more, no doubt, I'll learn something somewhere along the line.
@VKXY62 (1605)
• Australia
16 Mar 07
Ooooh, concerninng airports, let's also not forget that many commercial passenger aircraft, including 747's contain Depleted Uranium counter weights in their flaps. The reason this stuff is there is because it is extremely dense and heavy. One small problem, alpha radiation is probably more insidious than any other form of radiation. A passenger jet with Depleted Uranium counter weights crashed and burned in Canada I think it was. Uranium burns in air just like Magnesium and Aluminium, the result was huge clouds of alpha active radioactive smoke rose into the air and had the wind blow it all over the countryside for the very nice people living nearby to breathe in. No doubt these poor folks will in the futrue be having unmentionable health problems and birth defects will be on the up and up. It never ceases to amaze how irresponsible and stupid 'smart people' can be. 'duuhhh' These weights are slowly being removed and replaced with Tungsten, but I couldn't tell you how many hundreds of passenger jets still have their 'Depleted Uranium' weights in their wings.
• Greece
15 Mar 07
concerning radiation lets not forget security checks at airports.
1 person likes this
@oslovibes (190)
• Greece
14 Mar 07
Dear VKXY62 i think you've writen the most fascinating post i've read so far in mylot. You have a very adventurous hobby. Expanding your horizons is an essential part of life. I am curious about the mesures you take to avoid radiation inflicting you. Or maybe i suppose the radiation is too little to do any damage. anyway never fear to do what you enjoy and like. i hope to read more details about your collecting activities.
@VKXY62 (1605)
• Australia
15 Mar 07
Hello oslovibes, thanking you very much for the pat on the back, I have a motto on my MyLot page, 'The day that I stop learning, will be the same day that I die.' I learned an awful lot about this subject before I really began collecting. There is still so much more to know. I keep my specimens away from people for starters in a secure container. I have dosimeters in and around where the specimens are stored. They are not considered to be highly radioactive, but they are still radioactive, and as far as I'm concerned, no radiation is good radiation. But we are all exposed to tiny levels of it every day of our lives, it comes from space, and the Earth we walk on, it is unavoidable. I tend to sway toward the chemistry of inanimate objects like elements and minerals. The molecular structure of biological material is sooooo complex, it put me off, but I am always interested to read about such things. I also enjoy the sciences of astronomy and space flight, I have been collecting meteorite specimens for years as well, amongst many other disciplines I have poked my nose into. What is it that gets your interest nerves twitching?