🚀 go-pugleaf

Lady Liberty wrote:
> russotto@grace.speakeasy.net (Matthew Russotto)  said, and I quote:
> 
> 
>>In article <avh8qs$2psm$1@news1.ij.net>,
>>die gedanken sind frei <judgedredd@ij.net> wrote:
>>
>>>And I shall learn what from that tedious testimony? That "depleted
>>>uranium" is radioactive? Clinton, tell me, does the word "Depleted" get
>>>anything into your mental processor? Can you go to the dictionary and
>>>look it up? I won't even begin to suggest you look at a chemistry text
>>>or physics textbook. Just look up the meaning of the word "Depleted" and
>>>see if it gives you a clue anywhere.
>>
>>Depleted uranium is radioactive; it is an alpha emitter.
> 
> 
> Now you're getting somewhere, and what does alpha do?

Alpha particles are basically fast moving helium nuclei, generally a 
byproduct of the decay of nuclei of heavy isotopes such as uranium or 
plutonium. They don't move very fast for very long, the first thing that 
they hit, they will pick up two electrons from, and become a normal helium 
atom and drift away in the wind.

If inside the living body, this tendency to absorb electrons can be 
dangerous, as it can alter the expected chemical reactions (see also 
"ionizing radiation", "valence", and "ionic bond"). If enough alpha 
interacts within cells, for example, the chemistry of cellular division can 
be affected, causing mutations in the cells which can lead to cancer or 
cellular death.

Alpha particles will bounce right off of plain old notebook paper, or your 
skin for that matter, if in fairly low doses. Of course, if you left a 
powerful alpha emitter next to your skin for a sustained period, it's 
possible that it would degrade the skin surface sufficiently so as to allow 
subsequent alpha particles to penetrate to the interior, potentially 
contributing to cancer, etc.

Beta is rather more dangerous. It's essentially a very high-energy electron. 
This also is ionizing radiation, and dangerous in about the same way and for 
about the same reasons as alpha particle emitters.

Gamma radiation is a form of light, at very high energy levels (very short 
wavelength, shorter than X-ray if rightly remember). While it is not an 
ionizing radiation, it can and does break molecular bonds, causing damage to 
cells.

Both alpha and beta can be deflected -- in opposite directions -- by 
magnetic fields. Gamma's line of flight is not affected by magnetic fields.

Alpha and beta are, some believe, more likely to cause genetic damage and 
cancer, gamma is more likely to just kill you very quickly.

A rule of thumb for protecting from these radiations is

Alpha == blocked by foil or paper
Beta == blocked by an half-inch of pine, or sheet-metal (ducting thickness)
Gamma == blocked by six inches of lead, or six feet of concrete.


-- 
Be kind to your neighbors, even     | "Global domination, of course!"
though they be transgenic chimerae. |                   -- The Brain
     "People that are really very weird can get into sensitive
     positions and have a tremendous impact on history." -- Dan Quayle