# Prions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prions/68921>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [June 15, 2001, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prions/68921 "2001-06-15T12:16:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![parkerea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@parkerea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parkerea)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prions/68921/21 "2001-06-18T19:42:15Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by casdave \*  
> \*\*I believe that whatever is the cuasal agent of BSE its route throught the the feed chain to cattle was due to a decision made by the then British government following lobbying by the feed producers and the rendering industry.
> 
> They succesfully applied to have the rendering temperature reduced in the plants which of course saved a deal of money in fuel bills.  
> \*\*

If you believe that BSE is not a prion based disease, then what you propose is plausible. However, if it is prion based (which I believe), given that prion survive temps which turn flesh to ash, obviously a simple adjustment of the rending temperature is irrelevant.

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prions/68921/22 "2001-06-19T20:08:21Z")

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Mike Robe’s letter, the one that Cecil received and reprinted at the start of the prions/mad-cow-disease article, ends with the following sentence:

“We need some new kind of high-tech bug that sounds like you make it by pelting muons with bosons in the Tevatron?”  
Hah! Both Mike Robe, and Cecil himself, failed to notice that muons **are** bosons!!

What do I win?

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**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prions/68921/23 "2001-06-19T23:21:25Z")

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Just out of curiosity, **ndorward** and **squeegee** , and keeping in mind the limitations of a weekly column, what do y’all feel is the “right” ratio of data to entertainment?

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**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:** [June 20, 2001, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prions/68921/24 "2001-06-20T05:31:54Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Hah! Both Mike Robe, and Cecil himself, failed to notice that muons are bosons!!
> 
> ```
> What do I win?
> 
> ```

Nothing. Muons, like all leptons, are, of course, fermions, not bosons, since they have half-integer spin.

Usually, what you get when you pelt a muon with a boson (such as a photon) is… A muon and a boson. Yeah, I know, not very exciting.

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**Author:** ![Kantos\_Kan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@Kantos\_Kan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantos_Kan)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prions/68921/25 "2001-06-21T16:51:30Z")

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Check out the item from today’s WSJ:

> **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)**
>
> MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team.

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