Slashdot Mirror
The Mystery of Glenn Seaborg's Missing Plutonium: Solved
KentuckyFC writes: In the early 1940s, Glenn Seaborg made the first lump of plutonium by bombarding uranium-238 with neutrons in two different cyclotrons for over a year, The resulting plutonium, chemically separated and allowed to react with oxygen, weighed 2.77 micrograms. It was the first macroscopic sample ever created and helped win Seaborg a Nobel prize ten years later. The sample was displayed at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley until the early naughties, when it somehow disappeared. Now nuclear detectives say they've found Seaborg's plutonium and have been able to distinguish it from almost all other plutonium on the planet using a special set of non-destructive tests. The team says the sample is now expected to go back on display at Seaborg's old office at Berkeley.
They weighed it?
Mostly random stuff.
Just sayin'
So by 2141 the sample will be all Am-241 and it can be used in a smoke detector. Glenn would be happy about that.
But who's going to pay for my operation? Lesson learned: don't swallow plutonium, no matter how appealing!
P.S. The side benefit was, if I had to go to the bathroom at night, I didn't need nightlights...once I started to go, it all glowed in the dark, providing sufficient light to see!
the early naughties, those were the good ole days.
naughties?? When was that? I'd like to live in that era!
Mildly interesting
This is completely irresponsible that it was lost. What if it had gotten into the hands of the terrorists?
They had to take care of some dissidents.
It ought to be the Noughties, which is the proper pun for that decade.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
Naughties arguably fits in some regions, as one of the characteristic aspects of that decade was a relaxation of sexual taboos.
It ought to be the Noughties
Except that's pronounced "Nawftees." Just doesn't work.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Just like every decade for as long as any of us have been alive?
Learn to love Alaska
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_%28decade%29
On January 1, 2000, the BBC listed the noughties (derived from "nought" a word used for zero in many English-speaking countries), as a potential moniker for the new decade.
It's distinguishable from other plutonium, because it got here from 1985.
= cyclotron's ?
I simply stop reading when an author makes obvious grammar mistakes.
The method described did not help them find the plutonium. The method helped them identify it as being the right piece once it was found.
Is the gradual re-purposing of the Lawrence Hall Of Science from a museum explaining the history of nuclear research to just another science museum presenting dinosaurs, earthquakes and global warming. LHS used to be a unique historical resource. "Concerns about radiation" and political correctness turned it into a generic and politically correct science museum.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Aren't such things illegal in Berkeley because of the Nuclear Free Berkeley Act (Chapter 12.90):
http://codepublishing.com/CA/Berkeley/cgi/NewSmartCompile.pl?path=Berkeley12/Berkeley1290/Berkeley1290.html
Please don't tell us how you pronounce "thought". Thanks.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
>the sample is now expected to go back on display at Seaborg's old office at Berkeley.
Because every self-respecting academic has the odd bit of plutonium lying about. It really helps with the mad scientist cred.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
the noughties were dominated by dreadnoughts on the high seas
call them the dreadnoughties?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Lump? 2.7 micrograms, I'd call it a small speck.
United Nuclear is your friend. Doesn't everyone keep interesting stuff around: bars of tungsten, 1 microcurie sources of Co60, just in case you need some gamma rays, low melting alloys to cast teaspoons out of, etc.
We went to check on Seaborg's plutonium, only to discover it had been replaced with a piece of uranium-235!!
Thuft.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
I was honored to know Glenn Seaborg while working at Lawrence Berkeley Labs in the 1980's. By then, Manhattan Project was long behind him, as was his Nobel prize, the Atomic Energy Commission work, and his chancellorship of the University of California. Yet he was still a kind and supportive scientist who was deeply interested in any research - whether in physics, astronomy, chemistry, or biology. He recognized the need to teach music and art alongside science and math, and would visit local high schools to encourage students.
I once met him at the Lawrence Hall of Science, walking around the old cyclotron. When I asked him about it, he said that he'd been wondering how the field magnets had been mounted (it was perhaps 40 years after the Manhattan Project). After a short chat he invited a few 12 year old kids over, and told stories about using the beast to create new elements. Amazing guy.
TFA says the sample was removed from a display for safety concerns. According to this source, Pu 239 has a specific activity of .063 curies/g. For a 2.7ug sample, that's 0.175 uC. I don't get why anyone thought safety was an issue for such a tiny source.
Reminds me when i wanted to text "Sweta" (Short calling name for "Swetlana") on my phone to a colleague of mine and my phone corrected it to "Sweetie".....
So early naughties were the nineteen-sixties?
Ezekiel 23:20
Only if you're a Brit.
Ezekiel 23:20
the brits built the first dreadnought, yes. everyone was so impressed everyone built one
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
It was correctly labelled, at the correct institution, in the place you would expect it to be stored, and it weighed the correct amount.
But that wasn't good enough. They had to wait and see if it wouldn't decay in a particular way.
I am never going to let these guys tidy up my lab or do the filing.
Recycle PCs and build a wireless community network www.hillsborough.org.nz
I now have a headache and my cheeks hurt from laughter. Thanks everyone for all the great comments. It was refreshing to hear all the jokes and not all the anger and hatred that usually comes with public sites. Who said nerds aren't funny? Cheers and keep moving forward Science On!
It ought to be the Noughties
Except that's pronounced "Nawftees." Just doesn't work.
Is that a joke about the vagaries of English spelling/pronounciation (rough, through, bough, etc)or do you really not know that it derives from "nought" which rhymes with "ought"?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Is that a joke about the vagaries of English spelling/pronounciation (rough, through, bough, etc)
Fank you for having more of a clue than a few other folks, apparently!
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.