# Atomic Seeds--POSEYS OF DDDOOOOOOM! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721 "2017-02-01T01:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/21 "2017-02-01T19:58:36Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I > > In the same line, at a flea market I found a [irradiated dime](https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/medalsmementoes/dimes.htm) in an metal enclosure for the Oak Ridge Lab (Tennessee). The half-life was so short they didn’t really have any radiation left in them; they were made as souvenirs. I got one at Oak Ridge. It was silver, and many years later had a bronze cast to it. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/22 "2017-02-01T22:30:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s Seed Man! The new Super-Hero Wouldn’t that just be [El Seed](http://tick.wikia.com/wiki/El_Seed)? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/23 "2017-02-02T00:02:13Z")
Any books on the 60s semi-fad? Titles? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/24 "2017-02-02T00:17:10Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > In reality anti-GMO people were the same people who strictly opposed irradiation for food 10 years ago. It is untrue to suggest they like one but not the other. > > Besides had those seeds of the '60s increased, say, dementia in the American people, the effects would be evident right now. Not sure of your intent - but this comment needs more STARS.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/25 "2017-02-02T00:24:53Z")
On a side note, the found a bacterium that resists radiation, called [Conan the Bacterium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans) “D. radiodurans is capable of withstanding an acute dose of 5,000 Gy (500,000 rad) of ionizing radiation with almost no loss of viability, and an acute dose of 15,000 Gy with 37% viability.[10][11][12] A dose of 5,000 Gy is estimated to introduce several hundred double-strand breaks (DSBs) into the organism’s DNA (~0.005 DSB/Gy/Mbp (haploid genome)). For comparison, a chest X-ray or Apollo mission involves about 1 mGy, 5 Gy can kill a human, 200-800 Gy will kill E. coli, and over 4,000 Gy will kill the radiation-resistant tardigrade.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/26 "2017-02-02T00:45:16Z")
Water bears are close at 4,000 Gy. They may be our only hope against Conan the Bacterium. Can Conan exist in the vacuum of space? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/27 "2017-02-02T01:15:20Z")
Just a general comment: irradiating \*seeds \*is about inducing useful mutations to carry into future generations. Irradiating harvested _food_ is about preserving that particular piece of fish, meat, milk, etc., until consumed. One is free to approve or disapprove of either of these things for whatever reasons make sense to one. But its useful to understand they are very different things and operate in very different ways for very different goals. If you munge them together then whatever your decision may be, it’s logically meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/28 "2017-02-02T01:58:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Just a general comment: irradiating \*seeds \*is about inducing useful mutations to carry into future generations. Irradiating harvested _food_ is about preserving that particular piece of fish, meat, milk, etc., until consumed. > > One is free to approve or disapprove of either of these things for whatever reasons make sense to one. But its useful to understand they are very different things and operate in very different ways for very different goals. If you munge them together then whatever your decision may be, it’s logically meaningless. I believe most of us are aware of that, but thank you anyway. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/29 "2017-02-02T02:40:54Z")
Irradiating foods would certainly trigger some chemical changes, much like cooking does. And so it’s plausible that it might change the flavor a little. But I see no a priori reason to assume that the changes would always be for the worse-- After all, plenty of foods taste better after cooking. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/30 "2017-02-02T12:53:26Z")
> [@psiekier](#): > > Wouldn’t that just be [El Seed](http://tick.wikia.com/wiki/El_Seed)? Certainly NOT! El Seed was a villain. And he had no “seed powers”. Besides apparently being an animated plant, his main power was having a couple of cool “B-girls” as sidekicks > **[Tick "El Seed" Bee Twins - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Tick%2B%22El%2BSeed%22%2BBee%2BTwins&view=detailv2&&id=CD739950CB28A9DE949542F5CB7967A8B3620CD4&selectedIndex=6&ccid=KSX8zXvT&simid=607996804423945710&thid=OIP.KSX8zXvT7egpi3jQdnnF8wEsDh&ajaxhist=0)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/31 "2017-02-02T14:45:34Z")
I have a bunch of african violets in my house which are ‘space violets’. They are mutated to bloom more constantly and have more blooms. Another mutation available is a green edging to the flower petals. The african violet breeding company that sells them (or maybe ‘sold’ - I haven’t bought new ones in years because AVs live forever) is Optimara, and the varieties are called “Everfloris”. You can look them up, Optimara had a web page about how they were produced. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/32 "2017-02-02T15:04:46Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > In reality anti-GMO people were the same people who strictly opposed irradiation for food 10 years ago. It is untrue to suggest they like one but not the other. > > Besides had those seeds of the '60s increased, say, dementia in the American people, the effects would be evident right now. Which just points out the irrationality of that particular position. We have thousands of years of experience of people eating naturally mutated plants and selectively bred plants. We have some 50 years of experience eating plants whose genetics were artificially and randomly scrambled by intense radiation. None of that has caused any ill effects whatsoever. Yet a scientist deliberately inserts a specific gene with a specific purpose into a specific point in plant’s genome, and the sky is falling, and “Frankenfoods” are suddenly a serious threat. Yet exposing the plants to huge doses of radiation and seeing what happens next is a LESS risky strategy… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/33 "2017-02-03T01:21:40Z")
Book titles? ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/34 "2017-02-03T12:37:51Z")
**CalMeacham:** Seed man!! Awesome! I actually collect seeds, pods and husks. I think they’re fascinating and kind of miraculous. Other, less-glamorous seed powers: going dormant for centuries, while remaining viable surviving a vertebrate’s digestive track unscathed sprouting in virtually no soil at all between the cracks of the sidewalk ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/35 "2017-02-03T13:21:21Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > **CalMeacham:** Seed man!! Awesome! I actually collect seeds, pods and husks. I think they’re fascinating and kind of miraculous. > > Other, less-glamorous seed powers: > going dormant for centuries, while remaining viable > surviving a vertebrate’s digestive track unscathed > sprouting in virtually no soil at all between the cracks of the sidewalk I can visualize all of these being used in his repertoire of super abilities. Especially sprouting in a sidewalk crack, and thus surprising evildoers. “OK, we robbed that bank, now let’s run awa…Hey! Where’d YOU come from?” ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/36 "2017-02-03T17:51:02Z")
The play, and eventual film, entitled “The Effects of Gamma Rays on ‘Man in the Moon’ Marigolds,” comes to mind. IIRC, the Legion of Super Heroes had a second-string member named Chlorophyll Boy, who could make plants grow at an accelerated rate. And whatever happened to gibberellic acid anyway? It was all the rage decades ago to remarkably alter growth, flowering times, colors(I believe) of various plants. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/37 "2017-02-03T17:59:08Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > The play, and eventual film, entitled “The Effects of Gamma Rays on ‘Man in the Moon’ Marigolds,” comes to mind. > > IIRC, the Legion of Super Heroes had a second-string member named Chlorophyll Boy, who could make plants grow at an accelerated rate. > > And whatever happened to gibberellic acid anyway? It was all the rage decades ago to remarkably alter growth, flowering times, colors(I believe) of various plants. Chlorophyll _Kid_, actually > **[Chlorophyll Kid](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Chlorophyll_Kid)** > > Chlorophyll Kid is Ral Benem, a member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes in the 30th Century. Born on the planet Mardru, an experimental serum gave him the ability to accelerate plant growth. This was deemed an unsuitable power for membership in the... He dates from the early 1960s, when people were still under the 1950s spell of Chlorophyll, which was touted as good for all sorts of things, including freshening breath (so they sold Chlorophyll gum) > **[Chlorophyll](https://fiftiesweb.com/fashion/chlorophyll/)** > > Beat odor. I figured your first question would be - what is that supposed to do for you? And the answer is that it was widely believed that chlorophyll eliminated bad smells. So they added There are still people who believe chlorophyll is kinda a cure-all. You can pull up lots of sites on Google, and you can still get Chlorophyll gum, though it’s not as common as it once was. See here: > **[Amazing Claims for Chlorophyll | Quackwatch](https://quackwatch.org/related/DSH/chlorophyll/)** > > A few years ago, a student arrived in one of my classes with her teeth and gums dyed bright green. When I inquired about her strange oral hue, she said that ... ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/38 "2017-02-04T00:25:05Z")
As for personal experiences, we had this lead sphere on a pedestal sort of thing that was about 18 inches in diameter at my high school back in the late sixties that allowed you to irradiate small items for whatever reason you liked. You could put items on a small tray that would slide out and then you would slide the tray back inside and spin this wheel on top and it would move the tray around to face the radiation source and then you spun it back. As I remember, we used it to irradiate radish seeds for various lengths of time and then planted them and compared both the number of sprouts we got from each batch and the number of “deformities.” No idea what the actual radiation source was. We used to joke that whatever it was, it would make a very small bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/39 "2017-02-04T01:00:18Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > And whatever happened to gibberellic acid anyway? It was all the rage decades ago to remarkably alter growth, flowering times, colors(I believe) of various plants. > **[Gibberellic acid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibberellic_acid)** > > Gibberellic acid (also called gibberellin A3 or GA3) is a hormone found in plants and fungi. Its chemical formula is C19H22O6. When purified, it is a white to pale-yellow solid. > Plants in their normal state produce large amounts of GA3. It is possible to produce the hormone industrially using microorganisms. Gibberellic acid is a simple gibberellin, a pentacyclic diterpene acid promoting growth and elongation of cells. It affects decomposition of plants and helps plants grow if used in small am... > [@](#): > > Gibberellic acid is sometimes used in laboratory and greenhouse settings to trigger germination in seeds that would otherwise remain dormant.[3] It is also widely used in the grape-growing industry as a hormone to induce the production of larger bundles and bigger grapes, especially Thompson seedless grapes. In the Okanagan and Creston valleys, it is also used as a growth replicator in the cherry industry. It is used on Clementine Mandarin oranges, which may otherwise cross-pollinate with other citrus and grow undesirable seeds. Applied directly on the blossoms as a spray, it allows for Clementines to produce a full crop of fruit without seeds. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721/40 "2017-02-04T01:23:13Z")
Are you guys sure that the Posies of Doom seeds were not produce by a plant that had been irradiated? This sounds to me like the Russian biologist who thought that if you cut of a frog’s legs, the tadpoles would not develop legs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-seeds-poseys-of-dddoooooom/778721.md?page=1)