Why in the hell would you want this stuff…you most wanna blow something up man!
Really? My detectors are really old. Polonium used to be common for stuff like this, I used to buy antistatic brushes for photography, they used polonium to neutralize static.
Anyway, I thought Americium had an infinitesimal half-life which would make it unsuitable for industrial use. Time to consult some reference books…
Nope, [sup]241[/sup]Am has a half-life of about 432 years. There are americium isotopes whose half-lives are measured in nanoseconds; this just doesn’t happen to be one of them.
Oliver from Bloom County? I believe it was for a science project.
Don’t worry- the safety’s on!
Fire drill, everyone…
Well, Chas.E, you have something there with the brushes. I was very amazed to see my lens brush lists a warning for Polonium content. I learned something new.
MrDeath, you wouldn’t happen to be posting from the Bancroft* area, would you? 
*The village of Bancroft, located in a beautiful and mineral-rich area of the province of Ontario. Uranium was once mined in the area. There are a lot of abandoned mineshafts and tailings piles, and if you go looking for land there, you have to ask the real-estate agents what it was formerly used for and whether it’s radiocative. They may not tell you otherwise…
I’m planning to build a …cottage there. Yeah, that’s it. A cottage.
Ontario is the world’s largest producer of uranium; MrDeath is posting from Saskatchewan, which has substantial deposits of uranium (my math leaves Ontario with larger reserves, but it’s possible that my sources don’t have all of the known Sask. deposits).
you could always do what this kid did. it’s an iteresting read, but if you don’t have the time: it’s all about a boyscout who builds a nuclear reactor in his mom’s potting shed from eaisily obtainable stuff.
That’s your freaking signature? I think you’d better cut it down by about 90%. And from a copyrighted work too. Jeez.
bibliophage
moderator, GQ