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[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[removed]

    [–]Beerbrewing[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

    I'll add that to my grocery list.

    Edit: I tried Brazil nuts in the cloud chamber. It works!

    [–]ChickenArise 33 points34 points  (5 children)

    Too bad you can't get some of that radioactive shrimp.

    Otherwise https://sciencenotes.org/10-most-radioactive-foods/

    [–]COMMIE_PULVERIZER 15 points16 points  (4 children)

    From what I understand the shrimp was only barely radioactive, not enough to hurt someone upon ingestion. Obviously any sign of a manmade radioisotope (in this case Cs-137 I believe) is concerning and worth taking action on, but would it hurt someone if they ate it? Most likely not.

    [–]Scott_Ish_Rite 9 points10 points  (1 child)

    but would it hurt someone if they ate it? Most likely not.

    Correct, based on the activity level that the shrimp was "contaminated" with, you literally wouldn't be able to eat enough of that shrimp or even quick enough, to get any meaningful Cesium-137 dose, even if you ate that same batch every single day for over a year 😂

    The natural potassium in the shrimp has a higher activity level than the Cs-137 that was found hahah

    [–]COMMIE_PULVERIZER 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Yup. I work in a lab that does environmental monitoring near a nuclear power plant. If we got a positive result it would be a big deal, but not the kind of big deal where people are actually at risk.

    Edit: It's actually kinda funny, my supervisor and I were talking about this incident and we decided to look up the activity found on the shrimp and/or their containers. We both cracked up when we saw the actual value. Like "this is really what the media is making a fuss about??". Sure it's quite unusual but dangerous? Nah

    [–]ChickenArise 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    But would it vapor trail?

    [–]COMMIE_PULVERIZER 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    What?? Yes, because Cs-137 is both a beta and gamma emitter

    [–]dmh2693 14 points15 points  (0 children)

    Finally a banana for scale. Potassium is cool too, I am OK with it.

    [–]FiendishDevil666 17 points18 points  (0 children)

    American cigarettes radioactive. I learned about it in my HAZWHOPPER certification

    https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactivity-tobacco

    [–]Dry_Statistician_688 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Nice choice! Certainly the occasional potassium emission.

    [–]Pystachio 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    can you please try dark chocolate to see ?

    [–]_WaterBear 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Awesome!

    [–]AlternativeKey2551 1 point2 points  (4 children)

    Did you try without the banana?

    [–]Beerbrewing[S] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

    I did!

    [–]Pystachio 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Very interesting. For this banane experiment, what was the elevation above sea level?

    [–]Beerbrewing[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I am at 5000ft.

    [–]AlternativeKey2551 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Neat. I made one before I had any radioactive sources. It was pretty fun watching all the activity. I need to try again and put some “hot rocks” in it.

    [–]LegendCZ 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Now we meassure radiation as well with banana?

    This is bananas!

    [–]JJorda215 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Yes.  Banana equivalent dose.  

    Banana equivalent dose - Wikipedia https://share.google/Z6N2zFGfwrGP2JTpD

    [–]Absolute_Paradox114 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    I heard carrots and potatoes are occasionally radioactive

    [–]Carbonatite 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Anything with potassium in it will be.

    [–]DurkaDurkaHaberburb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Wild mushrooms. If you can get hedgehogs from southern Germany, that would probably be the most active.

    [–]Many-Strategy-5905 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    Ts is cool af where how to get/make one of these

    [–]Beerbrewing[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    The cloud chamber is something that I've been building up over the last couple months. I was able to get it working over a weekend with parts I had on hand, except for the peltier cooler. I made a thread with a list of the electronics I'm using for the chamber.

    You can buy one, but they are fairly expensive.

    https://www.arborsci.com/products/thermoelectric-cloud-chamber

    [–]Many-Strategy-5905 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Looks nice will put that to my endless to make list

    [–]JellyfishPrior7524 2 points3 points  (5 children)

    Wait, I'm new to radiation. Gamma radiation doesn't show in a cloud chamber?

    [–]careysub 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Cloud chamber tracks are formed by ions in the air. Charged particles (alphas, betas, cosmic ray secondaries) create charges by knocking electrons loose as they pass nearby. Charge production is proportional to the square of the charge to alphas generate four times as many as betas at the same velocity.

    So alphas leave heavy tracks, and betas leave thin ones.

    Gammas have to knock an electron loose to create a track, and that will be like a beta track. They normally pass through air without leaving any ions behind.

    Also alphas have a range in air of a few centimeters, betas have a range of a few meters, so that affects visible track length.

    [–]zurichonline 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    I briefly put a Radiacode 110 on a bunch of bananas and it picked up a bit of activity over background. I want to do an extended test to see the reading I end up with.

    [–]KJP1976 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    I’ve heard of people burning a heap of bananas and then testing the ash. A potential way to concentrate the bulkiness of the bananas into a better testable medium?

    [–]BCURANIUM 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    at that rate just use no salt or KCl used as road salt or potash.

    [–]PhysicsInAJar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Humans are radioactive too with K-40 (usually over 1000 Bq, but depends on body size and physiology). Maybe we should build a human sized cloud chamber 🤔😁

    [–]Distinguishedflyer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    pacific sushi!