# "Radioactive Boy Scout" line **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 24, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492 "2012-08-24T14:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492/1 "2012-08-24T14:44:10Z")
Regarding the lines at the end of today’s column about transmuting base metals into gold ([link to column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3067/can-we-now-transmute-base-substances-into-gold)), about David Hahn getting radiation poisoning … the photos of David Hahn that made the news back in 2007 when he was arrested for stealing smoke detectors didn’t really look like radiation poisoning. As [this blog entry](http://depletedcranium.com/the-radioactive-boyscout-strikes-again/) (and especially the comments) discusses, they look more like the kind of facial sores that stimulant abusers get. And Hahn has had legal problems resulting from drug addiction, and may be mentally ill. It’s still probably not a good idea to try to build a breeder reactor in your shed, though. (One other interesting note: David Hahn actually registered here a while back, as the user **weakbrainhuman34** , and the thread he started was deleted, perhaps because it was incoherent.) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492/2 "2012-08-24T15:40:39Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > (One other interesting note: David Hahn actually registered here a while back, as the user **weakbrainhuman34** , and the thread he started was deleted, perhaps because it was incoherent.) Well, at least he practiced truth in naming. Part of his Boy Scout training sunk in, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492/3 "2012-08-24T15:57:19Z")
Can you really “slam” a slow neutron into something? I’d think it would be more of a gentle nudge at best. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492/4 "2012-08-24T17:17:08Z")
Even though the “Radio Active Boy Scout” is certainly an appropiate example for private fusioneers, there’s also [Taylor Wilson](http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-02/boy-who-played-fusion?page=all) who, it seems, not only succeeded at building his own fusion reactor but possibly might even be able to sell it! ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492/5 "2012-08-24T17:59:44Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > Even though the “Radio Active Boy Scout” is certainly an appropiate example for private fusioneers, there’s also [Taylor Wilson](http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-02/boy-who-played-fusion?page=all) who, it seems, not only succeeded at building his own fusion reactor but possibly might even be able to sell it! Thanks for that link. What a really cool article! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492/6 "2012-08-24T21:40:07Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Can you really “slam” a slow neutron into something? I’d think it would be more of a gentle nudge at best. “Slow” only in comparison to other accelerated subatomic speeds. A thermal neutron (the kind of slow neutron needed for nuclear capture reactions like Cecil was talking about) still hauls ass [at 2.2 km/sec](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_temperature#Thermal_neutrons), or about 5,000 mph. So, nudge or not, “gentle” is not in the program. If you get hit with a beam of thermal neutrons… well, they’re pretty small, so you won’t feel it, but there’s a chance that you or the stuff you’re carrying (or wearing) will subjected to [neutron activation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_activation), transmuting those materials into radioactive isotopes. And the particle beam itself [isn’t that good for you](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_radiation#Health_hazards_and_protection). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-boy-scout-line/632492/7 "2012-08-24T23:00:36Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > Even though the “Radio Active Boy Scout” is certainly an appropiate example for private fusioneers, there’s also [Taylor Wilson](http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-02/boy-who-played-fusion?page=all) who, it seems, not only succeeded at building his own fusion reactor but possibly might even be able to sell it! That boy needs to be a Doper. 🙂