Atomic Energy Lab

[jjjnettie]

The perfect xmas gift for a budding young Dr Evil. :D


In 1951, A.C. Gilbert, inventor of the ERECTOR set, released the U-238 Atomic Energy Lab. Using real radioactive materials, one could witness mist trails created by particles of ionizing radiation.

The set included four Uranium-bearing ore samples, and originally sold for $49.50.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_U-238_Atomic_Energy_Laboratory
http://gombessa.tripod.com/scienceleadstheway/id4.html

Thanks to Jim Patton for sharing this one. :)

[renormalised]

That wouldn't go down too well in the US,now. You'd be accused of being a terrorist and thrown into one of those "family detention camps" they're building over there....all 800 of them by the time they've finished. Or you'd end up in some CIA run dungeon somewhere, where they'd "waterboard" you and try to "extract" your next target out of you:):P

[gary]

Hi JJJ,

Thanks for the post.

In the 1970's, one of my favorite books was "The Scientific American Book of
Projects for The Amateur Scientist" by C.L. Stong. It was a series of reprints
from the famous "The Amateur Scientist" section of the monthly magazine, Scientific
American.

One of the projects was "Build your own Cloud Chamber" and the author described
how you could obtain a speck of radioactive material by simply writing to him and
enclosing a self-addressed envelope.

C.L. Stong replied to me with an apology in a very humorous letter that had
been hand-typed on some ancient typewriter. He was getting on in years by then.
He had been a barnstorming pilot in the bi-plane era and had become an Electrical
Engineer in 1926. Unfortunately, he explained, due to postal regulations, he could
no longer send radioactive samples in the mail. However, he explained the samples were
specks of radium paint - the same type that was used to paint glow-in-the-dark
watch and clock dials at the time. As these were ubiquitous in the 1970's, a sample
was readily obtained by just scraping the paint from the hands of a broken
alarm clock.

One of the best cloud chambers I ever encountered was in the Science Museum
in London in the late 1980's. It was quite large and a beautiful thing to watch the
particles streaming through it.

Here is a YouTube video of someone's cloud chamber in action using a Thorium 232
source. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDYH5Q6NGY&feature=related

In another article in the same book by C.L. Stong, you could build your own
Homemade Atom Smasher "for less than the average cost of a set of golf clubs".

[strongmanmike]

Seriously Gary, I have rolled cars, thrown cabers and carried 800lbs further than most could carry a few bags of shopping but you my friend have had such an interesting life, you have done the most amazing things and remember such incredible stuff, I am in awe and love your posts :thumbsup:

Your cool too JJJ ;)

Mike

[adman]

Thats fantastic JJ. Can you imagine finding that on the toy store shelves today?

One gadget that showed a similar disregard for the hazards of radiation was a device they used to use in shoe stores (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope). It consisted of an x-ray tube under a platform that you would stand on while wearing your new shoes. Above your feet was a fluorescent screen that would show a real-time x-ray image of your feet within your shoes, demonstrating how wonderfully they fit.

Of course once the x-rays had passed through your feet and the fluorescent screen they carried on straight into your eyes and brain, delivering a (un)healthy absorbed dose of ionising radiation!

Adam

[Baddad]

I vaguely remember seeing pictures of that micro-lab in some old magazines. I guess that I was about 7 or 8 at the time. The image produced by jjj resurrected the memory.:thumbsup:

U238, Wow. Its probably only ore but it can be concentrated. :eyepop:

Hi Adam, Xray imaging was used extensively until people began turning up with various inflictions as a result of xray exposure. People soon learnt.

Cheers:)

[gary]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your kind comments, but any one of your wonderful astrophotographic
contributions on the IceInSpace forum better a million of my own words.

And what would IIS be without JJJ?

[jjjnettie]

LOL The "institution" wouldn't be the same without you long term inmates.
I'm proud to know you both. :cheers:

[Ric]

Ah real toys, those were the days. :thumbsup:

No worries about parents wanting to sue the company, they just sent little johnny out to the garage to build a nuclear reactor. ;)

Could you imagine the letterboxes in that street on cracker night, little glowing mushroom clouds rising into the moonlit night. :D

[ZeroID]

I started building one of those Cloud Chambers from the original Scientific American magazine. Never got completed. At age 17 I didn't have the knowledge or resources to do it but I was fascinated by the whole idea. And I had a watch with radium numerals !!

Built a Van De Graaf Generator a few years later when I learned a bit more technical stuff. That was fun !! From the same magazine, another edition though.

And Sugar\Permanganate rockets .... messy.

Here you go, Build a Cloud Chamber !!

http://www.scienceinschool.org/2010/issue14/cloud

Piece of cake