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The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

atlasobscura.com

31–40 of 122 posts

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#31
post #14
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question from someone that doesn't understand. Is she exposing herself to more radiation than is safe? Is there a very high likelihood she's going to make herself sick? I watched this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kg4vVYKc90 and she seems to be pretty callous with that hot particle.

One her comments: well, if its over 100 mSv/h, then acute radiation sickness begins after ~2 hours (noticable reduced blood cell count from 200 mSv acute dose onward, though you'd only FEEL sick after another 3 or 4 hours). but yeah, as the inverse square law applies, there's nothing to fear with this particle. and yep, the spectrum was done by a HPGe, as usual. :)

I think the key was if that was the dose to the total body area not just from a single grain in her hand. Imagine being covered in those grains for 1 hour that would be the equivalent.

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#32

This lady reminds me of Tarkovsky's Stalker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_(1979_film) There was a very interesting documentary on PBS a month or two back about the 'Radioactive Wolves' of Chernobyl. Bottom line: they don't seem any more or less healthy than other wolf populations in the region, but do well because nobody hunts them.

I remember seeing a documentary like that on Finnish TV a couple of years back, but it wasn't just about the wolves - it included other animals too. They seem to be doing very well.

Do you happen to remember the name of the documentary? It sounds very interesting.

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#34

I live in a city in Brazil where there was a very grave cesium leak, and two people involved in the incident ended up eating a cesium sandwich, including a little girl. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goiânia_accident#Ivo_and_his_da...

I understood that the two people ate a sandwich and a little girl. I'm glad that wasn't the case.

This part seemed quite crazy, though: "She was buried in a common cemetery in Goiânia, in a special fiberglass coffin lined with lead to prevent the spread of radiation. Despite these measures, there was still a riot in the cemetery where over 2,000 people, fearing that her corpse would poison the surrounding area, tried to prevent her burial by using stones and bricks to block the cemetery roadway."

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#35
post #32

This lady reminds me of Tarkovsky's Stalker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_(1979_film) There was a very interesting documentary on PBS a month or two back about the 'Radioactive Wolves' of Chernobyl. Bottom line: they don't seem any more or less healthy than other wolf populations in the region, but do well because nobody hunts them.

I remember seeing a documentary like that on Finnish TV a couple of years back, but it wasn't just about the wolves - it included other animals too. They seem to be doing very well. Do you happen to remember the name of the documentary? It sounds very interesting.

I saw a French one called 'The Zone', it was very interesting too

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#36
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone should combine that with the upcoming marijuana legalization and make their fortune selling irradiated seeds that might create a completely new high.

This is actually extremely similar to the plot of an 80s movie called "Class of Nuke 'Em High" - it features two students buying irradiated cannabis (sourced from the nuclear plant next to their high school) from a group of thugs. I stumbled upon it randomly on Netflix, thought it was terrible yet ended up watching the entire thing anyway. Turns out it was an intentionally bad movie - a parody of a 50s horror film -…

It's funny how you watched a Troma film without actually knowing what it was. Trust me, they were very aware of their "cheesy 80s context". Nuke 'Em High is one of their classics along with Toxic Avenger, which even spawned toys and a children television show. But I understand you reaction. Even I, as a cult-film guy, find their stuff hard to watch at times.

Their output is astounding though, and once in a while they launch great careers (South Park, J.J. Abrams).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troma_Entertainment

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#38
post #37

I wonder, maybe someone can answer: why is Chernobyl still remembered while nobody talks about Fukushima anymore?

Chernobyl was a lot more serious? Fukishima hasn't killed anyone [1] where as Chernobyl killed at least 40 people directly [2].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disas...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_due_to_the_Chernobyl_dis...

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#39

I live in a city in Brazil where there was a very grave cesium leak, and two people involved in the incident ended up eating a cesium sandwich, including a little girl. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goiânia_accident#Ivo_and_his_da...

I understood that the two people ate a sandwich and a little girl. I'm glad that wasn't the case. This part seemed quite crazy, though: "She was buried in a common cemetery in Goiânia, in a special fiberglass coffin lined with lead to prevent the spread of radiation. Despite these measures, there was still a riot in the cemetery where over 2,000 people, fearing that her corpse would poison the surrounding area, tried…

It seems hard to understand in our eyes, but you have to appreciate the lack of education and superstition in Brazil. If you ever read the famous feedback from Feynman about the standard of teaching in Brazil (shit) then you would know why.

Re: The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples

#40

seriously, 6 foot long catfish is a radioactive freak now? I lived in Uzbekistan from the time I was born (1976) till about 1990 and six foot catfish was really big but not uncommon. I have a photo of my dad holding 5 feet one by the gills somewhere in my albums (dated before 1976 for sure). I remember my dad buying smoked catfish slices about 5-7 inches across, those definitely came from pretty damn big specimens. A…

You get ones as big as that in the River Ebro in Spain. The ones she saw are not record breaking, I agree.

If you're a non-angler who lives somewhere like the UK where freshwater fish are pretty small, you would think it's gigantic.

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