Reminded me of this line from "Back to the Future":
Doc: I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drug store, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by.
In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
41–50 of 99 posts
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
An official lead casting kit? That's pretty neat. I just pulled cells out of discarded car batteries that I found while playing on a construction site, and melted it in bottle caps over the kitchen stove. I cannot believe my parents let me do ANY of that. The joys of growing up in the USSR.
Didn't everyone make "tin" soldiers? We had a supply of old metal types (they are basically made of lead, no idea where we found those) and made armies of them on the stove. You could buy molds of various kinds to make them in. I wonder how much lead we ingested in the process (and from playing with them)...
i seem to remember these been sold as multi part magazines even into the 80s here in ireland. checking online it looks like an irish site is still selling the molds.
though when my brother was messing with them my father made sure we did it outdoors and with a breeze taking the fumes well away from the person pouring lead.
so we've lost the hobby of lead soldiers but we've gained 3d printers. i think we've gained overall.
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
You know those things could be useful to detect radiation leaks or even dirty bombs.
I wonder how sensitive they are. What's to stop some jerk from buying uranium and scattering it around the city triggering a rash of false positives? http://www.unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&c...
That is why it is a Geiger counter. Low count, low threat. High count, high threat. To my knowledge you can't fake a dangerous amount of radiation.
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#44My grandfather worked for AC Gilbert, which made the Erector Set, and American Flyer trains. I had rather complete sets growing up, and couldn't figure out why my erector set and toy trains were so much better than everyone else's. But another toy was a lead casting kit: You would melt lead in a crucible, which would then pour into a mold. http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html Never had the atomic energy kit, pr…
An official lead casting kit? That's pretty neat. I just pulled cells out of discarded car batteries that I found while playing on a construction site, and melted it in bottle caps over the kitchen stove. I cannot believe my parents let me do ANY of that. The joys of growing up in the USSR.
When I was growing up in the former USSR, we used to sometimes enter the decommissioned parts of a nuclear plant / research station.
One day we found what was a deuterium/water solution ("heavy water") in a storage locker and took several gulps of it to prove something stupid.
Beat that!
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
I did that too, and used to worry about it. Then I saw a video of a guy messing around with a giant tub of liquid mercury, talking about how it's not all that dangerous in that form.
Doesn't it evaporate fairly easily, though? And can't it also be absorbed through the skin?
As far as I remember, mercury isn't the best thing for you, but it's not as bad as people make out. It takes a fair amount of exposure to do anything too terrible. It's the compounds that become very nasty (eg, dimethylmercury).
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#46It reminds me of this great story from Harper's called "The Radioactive Boy Scout: When a Teenager Attempts to Build a Breeder Reactor"
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how sensitive they are. What's to stop some jerk from buying uranium and scattering it around the city triggering a rash of false positives? http://www.unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&c...
That is why it is a Geiger counter . Low count, low threat. High count, high threat. To my knowledge you can't fake a dangerous amount of radiation.
Sure, but if you're shipping radioactive materials into the country, you probably want to wrap it in lead, or anything that'll keep it from damaging you while in transit, which means lower counts, right?
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#48My grandfather worked for AC Gilbert, which made the Erector Set, and American Flyer trains. I had rather complete sets growing up, and couldn't figure out why my erector set and toy trains were so much better than everyone else's. But another toy was a lead casting kit: You would melt lead in a crucible, which would then pour into a mold. http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html Never had the atomic energy kit, pr…
Melting lead in this way is still very common in Germany, where Bleigießen is practised by many families during New Years Eve in order to 'tell your future' (you just pour the lead into water to create a shape). Didn't notice any nuclear play sets though...! German: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleigießen English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molybdomancy
Huh, that's actually what I did.
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#49You can get uranium ore from the four corners area pretty easily (for free) if you know how to spot it, especially around Moab, Utah.
You can build a cloud chamber with everclear and dry ice easily. If you have enough area (the size of a dinner plate, for example) it's very easy to spot muons at a rate near 1 particle every two seconds.
The problem with geiger counters is often the dead time after ionization. If you run at too high of a voltage and/or have too many particles, you risk saturation (which also isn't good for the high voltage power supplies)
Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm from the second half and had some pretty cool chemistry sets as a child. I've noticed recently that all the chemistry sets are really rubbish now. Where's my strip to magnesium to set fire to?
Yeah vinegar and soda is now the most exciting stuff you can get for kids' science experiments. Not many people mind kids playing contact sports, getting concussions, broken ligaments, but when it comes to stuff like this is "Oh, no! Hide all the science equipment, we don't want them to burn their little fingers on the Bunsen burners".
My child got one of these vinegar and soda rocket kits a few years ago. You can shoot it up all day long for a dollar.
The best part is that you set it up and back away quickly - no Estes electronic remote control firing - because they do tip over and fire sideways from time to time.
http://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Explorers-Meteor-Rocket-Sci...