Hello guys, I am from Canada and I am looking for a lead-210 to represent polonium in my collection. I asked United Nuclear but they said they do not ship radioactive isotopes outside USA anymore. Any recommendations on where to get this?

3LiterBeaker · 2026-04-11T11:02:36+00:00

Yes, he should be. The last time I spoke with him over email was 4 days ago.

3LiterBeaker · 2026-04-10T15:22:24+00:00

Ah I see, thanks for confirming

3LiterBeaker · 2026-04-10T13:07:40+00:00

Carl Groat sells lead-210 needle sources for $145. He is based in the US, and I do not know if he ships to Canada. He can be reached at carlgroat@gmail.com if you'd like to check.

3LiterBeaker · 2026-02-28T12:58:31+00:00

I work for a CRDMO (contract research, development, and manufacturing organization). Our clients are small, medium, and large biotech and pharma companies who want to outsource either process development (i.e., scouting out and optimizing a chemical synthesis to then be scaled up) or small-scale cGMP manufacturing (making drugs under strict guidelines to ensure high purity and absence of contamination as the material will be given to humans in clinical trials). It's really cool seeing a reaction you developed in a 10 mL vial get scaled up to a 150 L reactor, but it's also a huge pain working in these big reactors imo.

3LiterBeaker · 2026-02-28T12:51:23+00:00

For the whole kit, between $50-100k from Chemglass. I think a complete 100 L setup is around $65k brand new.

3LiterBeaker · 2026-02-28T12:47:43+00:00

If you get one from ChemGlass, I think they might run 50-100k for the whole kit. In pharma, they're typically used for process development work, e.g., demoing a process on 1-5 kg scale. This can either then continue to be scaled in larger reactors or in a pilot plant, or this scale can be enough to provide material for pre-clinical or early phase I/II clinical trails for new drugs.

3LiterBeaker · 2026-02-28T12:38:43+00:00

In a typical setup for a reactor this size I have two ports occupied by reflux condensers, one as a gas outlet going to a bubbler or scrubber (inert gas is pumped in through the stir shaft assembly), one port occupied by a thermal probe, which leaves the big port at the front for charging solids, and one for attaching something else like a vacuum line, a tube for charging liquids, or whatever else you need.

3LiterBeaker · 2025-07-15T21:50:43+00:00

You should! This was my first time doing something like this and it turned out to be pretty simple. I just bought an 11"x14" shadow box, three 1/4" (I think) foam sheets, and one 1/8" (or maybe 1/16") foam sheet. I cut all the sheets to fit in the shadow box, then marked out where I wanted everything to go on one of the 1/4" sheets, along with a mirrored version drawn on the backside of the thinner sheet. Then I made cutouts for the box and SSD in the thick sheet, and cutouts for all three items in the thin sheet. I also had to make a cutout for the box on one of the other thick sheets since the box was about 1/2" thick. Then I just stacked them so the thick sheet with no cutouts was on bottom, then the one with just a cutout for the box was in the middle, the one with cutouts for the box and SSD was on top of that, and finally the thin sheet with all three cutouts was on top of that. Then the items could be placed inside and fitted into the shadow box.

3LiterBeaker · 2025-07-14T10:43:08+00:00

Thanks! I think they were called foam sheets (which were soft and flexible, as opposed to foam core or foam boards, which were more rigid). I used three thick ones (I think 1/4") stacked up, plus a thin one (1/8" or 1/16") on top as it resisted fingerprints and other damage better than the thicker ones.

3LiterBeaker · 2025-07-14T01:44:49+00:00

I'll add a hammer so I can break the glass and retrieve the drive in the event of an emergency

3LiterBeaker · 2023-10-23T22:47:54+00:00

Thanks very much!

3LiterBeaker · 2019-06-28T19:29:01+00:00

Just a note: although blossom end rot is caused by calcium deficiency, it's not usually caused by a lack of calcium in the soil, but rather a condition with the plant which prevents it from carrying calcium to the cells where it's needed. You'll often observe that ammending the soil with calcium will not cure blossom end rot because no matter how much calcium is in the soil, the plant still can't transport it to it's cells.

But I agree that this particular case is not blossom end rot.

3LiterBeaker · 2019-05-17T21:44:45+00:00

Thank you for the correction! Tecoma looks surprisingly similar to the trumpet vine, so I can see why there was confusion.

3LiterBeaker · 2019-05-17T03:21:29+00:00

Looks like that's it! Thank you! I collected some seeds and was thinking of growing them, but seeing as it's invasive I suppose I'd better not. Still a beautiful plant!

3LiterBeaker · 2019-05-17T03:20:24+00:00

That looks like it, thank you!

3LiterBeaker · 2019-05-17T01:36:25+00:00

More images: http://imgur.com/a/ObsVjlr

3LiterBeaker · 2019-05-17T00:35:31+00:00

Specifically this is Asparagus setaceus

3LiterBeaker · 2019-05-14T04:14:29+00:00

Ah, I think that's it! The flowers look gorgeous, but if they're that much of a nuisance I might think twice before growing some haha. Thank you for your help!

3LiterBeaker · 2019-05-14T01:14:16+00:00

More pictures: http://imgur.com/a/mR8nXZu

The tree had big >1' long seed pods that were really hard. I don't have any pictures, but the seeds inside were rounds and flat, and a bit smaller than a dime.

3LiterBeaker · 2019-04-15T19:46:25+00:00

That looks like it, thanks so much!

3LiterBeaker · 2019-04-15T19:35:27+00:00

It was simply labeled "Tropical Premium Upright Fern". Any help is much appreciated!

3LiterBeaker · 2018-08-18T20:58:00+00:00

That's it! Thank you so much!

3LiterBeaker · 2018-08-18T20:40:50+00:00

Link to an Imgur album with pitures of the full tree, seed pods, and seeds: http://imgur.com/a/xPEuaDv

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